Further Arts and TEKS Supporting Vanuatu Voices in International Events

Delly is the founder and coordinator of the Traditional Entertainment mo Kastom Sapot (TEKS) unit – a key work program of the Vanuatu not-for-profit Further Arts. TEKS is based in Vanuatu’s northern island, Espiritu Santo, and Delly’s work is supporting kastom as a means to encourage respect in youth-led initiatives, involving arts. Indeed, TEKS is a grassroots movement in Vanuatu working with rural communities to revive and maintain biocultural knowledge and practices through supporting them and co-producing creative multimedia content. Activities it is supporting include: creative arts workshops for children, water music touring in Australia, the creation of a DVD on water music, research on traditional music instruments, the Singaot Musik Kamp involving musicians from Europe and the Pacific, and support of festivals in outer Vanuatu isalnds such as Gaua, Santo and Ambrym.

Delly’s presentation at the Forum explored how the women of the Banks islands in Vanuatu are playing a pivotal role in maintaining and promoting kastom through Water Music performances, outlining how women can play a role in maintaining and passing traditional knowledge on to children.

Later this year, Delly will be participating in the the IUCN World Conservation Congress, 1-10 September 2016, Honolulu, USA. For her trip to Hawai’I Delly will be accompanied by a Director of Further Arts, Mr David Nalo.

Both Delly and David are new members of CEESP and they will be participating in the launch event for the release the next issue of CEESP’s peer reviewed journal, Policy Matters. The work of Further Arts and TEKS is featured in this use in a photographic essay titled "Dancing Diversity: Critical Indigenous Perspectives on a New Conservation Ethic in Melanesia".

David and Delly will also be delivering a Workshop at the World Conservation Congress. Their workshop will explore bio-cultural creativity and traditional knowledge documentation in the Pacific. Creative practices drawing on rich bio-cultural heritage can offer powerful tools for achieving conservation outcomes.  In the Pacific, there is a wealth of traditional knowledge and wisdom in local communities, however, much of this is becoming lost and forgotten.  By supporting local communities to document and continue transmitting important traditions and practices to younger generations, the links between cultures, people and their environment can be strengthened.

During the workshop, two innovative initiatives will be presented via audiovisual material, storytelling and performance. As each initiative is presented, facilitators will engage participants in lively discussions to:

• identify some of the key approaches to documenting and reviving traditional bio-cultural knowledge and wisdom throughout the Pacific
• examine how these approaches strengthen and promote practices that are becoming lost or forgotten
• explore the impact (benefits and disadvantages) of re-articulating tradition as expressed through some contemporary cultural practices
• discuss the role of technology in managing bio-cultural creativity and traditional knowledge

Further Arts and TEKS Volunteer Coordinator, Julia Rahui, is working with Delly and David to prepare for the Hawaii trip. Julia explained that “It all sounds very exciting and important mahi and an awesome opportunity for TEKS to be there talking about the work that we do, our learnings, the way we work with people, how we use technology, as well as learning from others etc”

She went on to say that the Further Arts team is "Thinking of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as being like the "United Nations" of Biodiversity … and the World Conservation Congress (WCC) is like the "Olympic Games" of Biodiversity … so its a big deal to be selected to participate"