Art of Vanuatu

Art of Vanuatu

A good place to buy authentic tamtams and grade carvings in Port Vila is the Gallery blong Vanuatu/Café des Arts, on the Lini Highway

Sand drawing from Vanuatu, an art form recognised by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

PhillipC - Flickr

Three women, Nekar Village, Luganville, Espiritu Santo Is, Vanuatu

Funeral masks, Malakula Island nineteenth century MHNT

Didier Descouens - Own work

Mask ceremony of passing grades. In Malekula, ranks companies allow each individual to climb the ranks of the group. This mask depends on the secret community "Nalawan". The initiate first undergoes a period of seclusion to learn the dances and the manufacturing techniques of these figures. The last day of the festivities is forbidden to the uninitiated: the man dancing with the acquired mask indicating his rank. Two views of the same object. - two views of the same object Population : Vanuatu- Malakula island Date of collection: the nineteenth century (4th Quarter) - Former collection of Théophile Savès Materials: Reed, bamboo, rope, natural pigments, spider web, clay, boar's teeth (Sus scrofa). Size : 114 x 28 cm

Man preparing kava, Nekar Village, Luganville, Espiritu Santo Is, Vanuatu

Vanuatu is considered to be the "home" of kava, a drink prepared from the roots of Piper methysticum, which has sedative, anti-anxiety and anaesthetic properties. On Espiritu Santo Island they grow an especially potent form of kava root reserved for special ceremonial occasions - called "Palarasul" kava. It is also call Tudei kava because its effects last for 'two days', since it is very high in kavalactones, the active ingredients.

I have a series of photos that show the entire process of preparing a kava beverage from fresh roots. This photo show the last step in preparing kava from fresh roots that are harvested when they are at least 4 years old (5 is better) when they reach peak concentrations of kavalactones. The man is filtering the kava pulp out of the cloudy white kava liquid. We all got to try some. It tastes pretty bad, so I drank very little and the only thing I noticed was my lips and tongue started to tingle and then feel numb (the expected reaction). Kava has been reported to cause liver toxicity with continued use and its use is banned in some countries (including Canada).

A memorial in Port Vila representing totem poles and a rounded tusk

Torbenbrinker - Own work

Aloï Pilioko est un artiste né en 1935 sur l'île de Uvea (Wallis). En 1956, il part travaillé au aux Nouvelles-Hébrides (actuel Vanuatu) dans une plantation sur l'île d'Epi. Un an plus tard, il rencontre Nicolaï Michoutouchkine dans une galerie d'art à Nouméa. Michoutouchkine remarque les talents artistique d'Aloï et l'encourage dans sa création. Un apprentissage réciproque se fait entre les deux artistes et ils ne se quitteront plus. Aloï part rejoindre Nicolaï, qui est parti travailler à Futuna. Là-bas il apprend l'art de la broderie, qui aura une influence majeure dans sa carrière. Lors de leur séjour à Futuna ils collectionnent de très belles pièces et en 1961 ils quittent Futuna pour les Nouvelles-Hébrides. A partir de là Aloï et Nicolaï enchaînent les voyages à travers le Pacifique, rencontrant artistes, personnalités et collectant des objets. Ce sont les premiers à oser exposer des œuvres contemporaines avec des objets traditionnels. Ils sont considérés comme les précurseur du courant artistique contemporain dans le Pacifique et ont participé à son développement, en organisant des ateliers d'artistes.

Aloi Pilioko. Online Exhibition 2015 - YouTube

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Aloi Pilioko. Online Exhibition 2015

String band musicians performing in Port Vila

.Phillip Capper from Wellington, New Zealand - Street band, Port Vila, Vanuatu

Water music

The women of Gaua Island (previously called Santa Maria) in the Banks Islands group of Vanuatu have developed a unique tradition of making water music, where water is used as a percussion instrument. The women dress in leaves and flowers and stand in waist deep water and make different sounds by banging on the water. A video with sound that shows women making water music can be seen/heard here: http://goo.gl/4zcGfA

Aloi PIlioko. Dancing in Water

Portrait of two warriors, Nekar Village, Luganville, Espiritu Santo Is, Vanuatu

Aloi Pilioko is the best known of ni-Vanuatu contemporary artists. His bright and distinctive curvi-linear drawings look as interesting upon paper as upon the cloth upon which he also prints. Pilioko has worked for many years with his partner the Russian painter Michoutouchkine to collect and gain wider recognition for both the traditional and contemporary art of the Pacific region.

Two Girls with Fish, Acrylic on Paper, 1996, 64 x 45 cm

Torbenbrinker - Own work

Wall painting in Main Street, Port Vila, Vanuatu

Portrait of a warrior-2, Nekar Village, Luganville, Espiritu Santo Is, Vanuatu

Michael Busai

Michael was born in 1963 in Matangi village on the island of Futuna in Southern Vanuatu. He enjoyed art from an early age and achieved initial recognition at Malapoa college where he studies art and contributed illustrations to a number of school texts. After a brief respite from art while he studied towards a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of the South Pacific, Michael joined the Nawita association after graduating in 1989 and has exhibited in all of the association's annual exhibitions since. Michael does his artwork in his spare time away from his job as Senior Research Officer at the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu. His art is inspired by the natural and cultural environments and in particular from childhood memories of these environments on Futuna.

'Fish Attraction', acrylic paint and black pen on paper

'Blackbirding', pen on paper

Traditional Trade', pen on paper

Aloï Pilioko is a contemporary artist born in 1953 on Uvea island (Wallis). In 1956, he went to work to New-Hebrides (now Vanuatu) in a plantation on Epi island. One year later, he met Nicolaï Michoutouchkine in an art gallery in Noumea. Michoutouchkine notices Aloï's artistic potential and encourages his creation. The two artists mutually learn from each other and they become inseparable. Aloï joined Nicolai, who left to work in Futuna. There he learned the art of embroidery, which will have a major influence in his career. While in Futuna they collect beautiful pieces and in 1961, they left for the New Hebrides . From there, Nicolaï and Aloï keep travel across the Pacific, meeting with artists, personalities and collecting objects. They are the first to dare exhibit contemporary works with traditional objects. They are considered as precursor of the contemporary art movement in the Pacific and participated in its development, by organizing workshops of artists .

ALOI PILIOKO in front of one of his creation at his residence, EFATE island, VANUATU, 1994
Copyright: Philippe Metois

A Vanuatu chief says it is young women that move to town from rural areas who are most likely to become pregnant and leave their new born babies to die.