From Samoa to WuwuluA Sketchbook of a trip through

Polynesia and Melanesia

by Judith Kunzlé

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This is a sketchbook of a trip from Western Polynesia through Melanesia to Micronesia, on a small expedition ship, the World Discoverer, from 20 April to 20 May 2004.

Introduction

Many of the islands we visited were very remote and off the beaten track of tourism. We were treated to stunning cultural presentations: dance performances, carvings, sand drawings, music, traditional cooking and ceremonies.

The tropical vegetation was lush everywhere, and the villages were beautiful and very different from island to island. I took photographs of the scenery, but I much preferred to draw the people we met.

I got on board in the Cook Islands, and travelled west to Samoa, Northern Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, and left the ship in Guam.

FijiSamoa

Tonga

Savai‘i

NiuatoputapuNiuafo‘ouLeluvia

Vanua LevuSawa-I-Lau

Fiji

Vanuatu PentecostAmbrym

LohPunawan

Kitava

Tuam

Guam

Gaferut

Ali

Wuwulu

MadangSepik River

Yap, Federated States of Microniesia

Papua New Guinea

It’s a special kind of communication to draw a person, or a group of people. Much is said in body language, which is only revealed by being together for a while, watching, or just keeping each other’s company.

With this collection I would like to share with you those times of quiet togetherness with the people I met on this amazing journey.

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It was Sunday, and we all went to church in Asau, on the island of Savai‘i.

Then a bus tour took us through forests, plantations and beautiful villages along the northern coast of Savai‘i. As tradition in Samoa demands, we had a lazy Sunday lunch, on the beach in the village of Lagoto. On the menu were several Samoan delicacies, like Palusami: young taro leaves cooked in coconut cream.

People of the village came to keep us company and to find out what we, the Palangi visitors, were up to.

Savai‘i, Samoa 25 April 2004

Young people of Lagoto village, sitting under a tree, watching us tourists

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Two women from the village Mauga, Savai‘i, Samoa

The String band of Lagoto Village

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Niuatoputapu, Tonga 27 April 2004

As is custom in Polynesia, we were officially welcomed with a dance performance. The men danced first, dressed formally in crisp white shirts and the elegant black Tongan wrap-around-skirts-with-pockets for men. Over it they wore garlands of fresh flowers, cordyline leaves and coconut fronds.

The vigorous and tough dance movements of the men were the perfect contrast to the smooth and graceful dancing of the women. The women wore elaborate costumes made from tapa, pandanus and other natural fibres, adorned with flowers.

The male dancers before their dance performance.

Male and female dancers

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Niuafo‘ou, Tonga 28 April 2004

Tongan women are very proper. These two young women were presenting traditional dance costumes.

The Welcome Choir on the wharf

We arrived early in the morning at the landing site of Niuafo‘ou, where we were greeted with songs by a small choir, sitting on the slope of the wharf.

The first sun rays were just reaching down over the top of the trees, onto the big lawn where we all gathered for a beautiful welcome ceremony. After the speeches, there was a very interesting presentation of traditional costumes and their uses. One of the elaborate costumes was made from fresh, green cordyline leaves, sewn together and oiled, decorated with fresh flowers. Others were made from very finely woven mats, others from hand-painted tapa.

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Female solo dancer

Welcome speeches in Niuafo‘ou in traditional dress.

After the traditional costumes show, the young men started the dance performance with a war dance, followed by the young women in their stunning traditional costumes, performing several graceful dances.

The feet of the female dancers stayed on the spot, while the movements of the arms and hands were very expressive and graceful, telling stories with meanings that we could only guess.

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Naivunia Village, Vanua Levu, Fiji 29 April 2004

Women making flower garlands and selling handicrafts.

Men sitting around the Kava bowl

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The village Nabukera on Sawa-I-Lau island welcomed us with a Kava ceremony in the village community house. Although women were allowed to participate, Kava seemed to be a men’s affair. The men were sitting in straight lines behind the big kava bowl, all wore the traditional Fijian lei made from bleached and dyed pandanus.

Many of us lined up to try the muddy looking drink, which leaves the mouth slightly numb for a few minutes.

After the kava ceremony, the women and men performed a Meke, a Fijian dance performance, on the village lawn outside the meeting house. The women danced with fans and wore skirts with geometric tapa-patterns. The men wore “grass”-skirts made from pandanus. They started with a war dance, holding spears and fans. The leading dancer was very expressive with his innovative, dramatic gestures and moves. The Meke ended in a party under the morning sun, and all of us were invited to join the dance.

Sawa-I-Lau, Yasawa Group, Fiji 3 May 2004

This sketch is from another, less formal Kava ceremony on another Fijian island, Leluvia, near Ovalau.

Nabukera’s male dancers at the Meke.

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Traditional huts, bure, in the village of Nabukera.

Male dancer in traditional dress. The cape and the “flowers” around the neck, were made from strips of pandanus, dyed in orange, pink, red and purple.

One of the Fijian officials who traveled with us on the World Discoverer.

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Father with baby-son, a boy and a girl sitting model on a bench.

All children, boys and girls, had the hair cut very short. This girl had quickly figured out, that I was looking for models and sat still, holding her gaze, despite her siblings and cousins trying to distract her.

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Boy hiding behind a big slit drum, called Tamtam

In the village Ranon we had a presentation of a sand drawing. The artist crouched over a rectangle of smooth ground, which was sprinkled with white sand, and drew a clear dark line with his middle finger. The gestures of his hand were meditative, like a slow dance, and he drew an almost continuous line until he had completed a complex symmetrical pattern. The motive of the patterns symbolised maps of the area in and around the village.

Sand drawing

Dancer in costume of dried banana leaves

Ambrym, Vanuatu 5 May 2004

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Dancer in banana-leaf costume and drummers

A group of male dancers moved slowly from the far side of a big clearing in the forest, dancing, chanting, and stamping their feet. The drummers danced in the centre of the group, facing each other. Flanking the drummers were the dancers, completely covered with big costumes of dried banana leaves. On their shoulders they wore beautifully carved, colourful wooden masks, and with their hands they shook funnel-shaped rattles. The continuous stamping and chanting was almost hypnotising, we could feel the ground shake.

Drummers

We were told that the banana-leaf costumes had to be burned after each performance to get rid of the spirits that were called with the dance.

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The tower on the steep slope was about 20 metres high, and we had the opportunity to watch nine dives. All the land divers were enthusiastically supported from the men and women, who danced and sang at the foot of the tower.

Two men in local dress helped us out of the zodiacs on the beach in Pentecost. At the welcome ceremony in the village of Wanuru, we all received a small woven basket and a coconut to drink. We then followed the villagers on the wide, sandy beach to the track, which led up to a tower for the land diving. The track was very steep, but it was prepared with many steps and handrails from the tough Entada-vines.

Pentecost, Vanuatu 6 May 2004

The official Welcome Party on the beach of Pentecost

Two women with their babies and their baskets. Everyone here, men and women, had one of those baskets.

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The first jumper was a boy, leaping from a platform about 3 m high. The last jumper on the highest platform, at about 20 m, held us in suspense with his charismatic movements and very slow leaning and stretching, before he finally gave way to gravity and gracefully dived down and out, crossing his arms over his chest in the fall. Arriving at the sloped area of loosened earth, he barely touched the ground with his hair, secured by the perfect length of vines, tied around his ankles.

1. Diver up on his platform on the tower, doing a dance before diving. What a feeling it must have been to be up there: above the trees, overlooking the lagoon and the ocean, being cheered by the whole village below, dancing and chanting!

2. Diver leaning forward on the platform, ready to dive.

3. Land diver on his fall. Boy watching the land diving, perched

on a tree stump.

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We returned to the village again in the afternoon, to see a Bwata dance performance, where men and women danced, stamping and singing. The men and boys formed a circle, facing each other, while an older man danced round and round the circle. The women danced in a line at the side of the men’s group, doing a few steps turning to one side, and then turning to dance to the other side.

Girl dancer waiting for her turn in the dance performance.

Male Dancers, chanting and drumming

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Life is not too hectic on Pentecost...

Girls in dance costumes.

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Loh, Torres Islands, Vanuatu 7 April 2004

From the landing site, a cove with tall trees, we walked through a path in the forest to the beautiful village on the windward side of the island. In the village, we were presented with a unique dance performance: lines of dancers, holding a stick, moved with very small steps in a circle around the drummers in the centre.

A line of boy dancers. I asked a girl, what the hats were made out of, and she said, that she wasn’t allowed to know.

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Punawan, Louisiade Archipelago, Papua New Guinea 9 May 2004

Punawan is not permanently inhabited, but used as a camp for visiting fishing men and their families from neighbouring islands. The bush around the camp on the beach had been cleared to grow bananas, papaya and other food crops.

Men and boys on the beach, with the always present basket, watching the zodiacs come in, with the World Discoverer in the background.

This young man is holding his pose with an attitude.

Young mother and her child. She is making a broom from the mid-ribs of coconut fronds.

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Kitava, Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea 11 May 2004

A crowd of beautiful and proud people were waiting for us on the beach. After a short welcoming dance by the young men, we all walked up to the village.

We met this young girl on the road from the beach up to the village. She was stunningly dressed up for the big dance performance, which was put on for us on the school grounds.

All the costumes were partially red: the short skirts for the girls, and a cloth wrapped around the hips for the boys. Tiny yellow leaves and flower petals stuck to the oiled skin of the dancers.

People from Kitava, watching us arrive with a cool interest.

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The girls are getting ready for the dance: oiling, tying their short skirts, putting on the head gear.

The young girls were very pretty, but the older women, all trim and slim, were the more interesting dancers.

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The people of Kitava, very graceful and confident, were proud of their much-studied culture. Their well-being was not just obvious, we could also feel it in the relaxed atmosphere on this island.

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Through the centre of the village lead an alley of frangipani trees, and along each side behind the trees, the road was lined with houses on stilts. Here a whole family posed for me. It started with the man on the right, and the woman on the left, the other three filled the gaps as I was drawing. The man was holding the gear for beetle-nut chewing.

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Tuam, Long Island, Papua New Guinea 12 May 2004

We landed on a small white beach on the rugged coast of Tuam. The edges of this raised island were overcrowded with pandanus and palms, overhanging the dark cliffs.

The school children dressed in colorful costumes welcomed us singing and dancing, and we followed them into the village. At the official greeting, our local guide and chief explained the material of the different dance costumes for the boys and girls, and their meaning.

Then the drums and chanting started and a group of men began to dance. Their costumes were stunning, decorated with shell jewellery, feathers, tapa cloth, and belts made from different natural fibres. Their movements were rhythmic, and sensual, feet being placed with gentle but distinct steps. The arms and hands described stories we could almost guess.

Male dancer

Leader of the Welcome Party on Tuam

Female dancer

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All the houses of the village were built with driftwood and lined the wide sandy road. A few steps further into the village we heard and saw another dance theatre, the impressive Mbolairo Culture Group, with striking octopus designs in red and white on their long loincloths. They danced with rattles, shaking them with deliberate grace. The women chanted and danced in two’s, arm in arm, around the men. They wore big skirts, very bushy at the back, which they bounced up and down with their steps and hip movements.

There were four theatre groups performing for us, all with different costumes and movements.

Two female dancers

Elaborate headgear of the male dancers with pig’s tusks

Two male dancers with rattlesDancer

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Dancers of Tuam

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Madang, Papua New Guinea 13 May 2004

This bamboo drummer was part of a band at the Madang resort

Over bumpy roads we drove inland to visit the village Bilbil, where we saw how their valued pottery is made. Four women demonstrated how to process the local clay, mixing it with sand and forming it, without a wheel, into beautifully even pots.

Bilbil potters

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Sepik River, Papua New Guinea 14 May 2004

As we approached the area of the Sepik River from the sea, the color of the water had changed from deep blue and transparent, to grey-ochre and opaque. The World Discoverer entered the river and went upstream to the village area of Kopar. As we came on land, the young girls danced to a welcome song. Many stunning masks and other beautiful carvings were displayed on the village road along the shore.

The people were very graceful, with delicate features. I walked sketching behind this women and her child, to capture her graceful posture.

The village of Kopar on the Sepik River

Young Woman

Young girl Kopar woman with child

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Ali, Papua New Guinea 15 May 2004

Despite the rain, we were welcomed on the beach on Ali Island by a big group of dancers, dressed in colorful costumes. After a short ceremony in the beautiful village, the rain stopped, the sun came out, and the real dancing began. Three different groups performed a variety of dances, accompanied by drumming of the male dancers. All men and women dancers were dressed up in bark-cloth and fabrics, leaves of all colors and shapes, and wore elaborate headdresses of feathers, furs and other interesting materials. Some men and women danced with bow and arrow. The dance movements were similar in all groups, but the choreography was varied with the dancers moving in lines and circles. The dancing went on all morning, and there was movement and color wherever we looked.

These girls were the two best students at the local school. They also were our tour guides, showing us the five villages on the small island of Ali. Left is Augusta, right is Sibora.

Dancer-Drummer

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Dancer with drum

Female dancer with bow and arrow, and the Bird-of-Paradise for head decoration. See next page for a close-up.

Two female dancers

Two female dancers in typical unison, from the side.

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A preserved Bird of Paradise was tied head down to the girl’s fore head with a piece of cloth.

Female and male dancer

A drummer and a female dancer taking a short break

Dancer with drum

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Wuwulu, Papua New Guinea 16 May 2004

Like Ali, Wuwulu is an atoll, without volcanic soil, and a very similar vegetation, but here the similarities end. The people look astonishingly different, much more like Polynesians than Melanesians. Although Wuwulu belongs politically to Melanesia (PNG), culturally it is Micronesian.

The people of Wuwulu are famous for their beautiful and refined carvings.

Although Wuwulu is very remote, people weren’t shy, and posed very patiently while I was drawing.

Giggling girls

Women and a child

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A woman, an old man with white hair, and a young man sitting on a bench

Left, the daughter and right, her mother, the teacher at the primary school

Portrait of a woman of Wuwulu

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Gaferut, Yap, Federated States of Micronesia 19 May 2004

Unfortunately, we couldn’t go on land on Gaferut, because the tide was too low to make it over the reef with the zodiacs. So we watched the seabirds and turtles from the ship. The dark spot on the beach on the left side of the island was a big turtle, our marine biologists thought it was probably a Leatherback Turtle.

Young Brown Boobies flew right up to us, and looked at us curiously. We also saw two Red-footed Boobies, a few Lesser Frigatebirds, Sooty Terns, White Terns, and White-capped Noddies.

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Expedition Artist at WorkPeople were very curious about my drawing, and most of my “models” were very cooperative, sat still, and held the pose patiently until I started to draw someone else - usually the person next to them, who just sat down, expecting to be drawn! I was kept busy, and usually worked in a crowd of children.

Of course, the dancers didn’t hold their poses, and I studied the movements or a particular gesture, waiting for its repetition, which is very typical for Polynesian, and even more so for Melanesian dancing.

One small problem was, that as soon as I started to draw someone, the person would face me, and take on a pose that was comfortable to hold. But sometimes, what I wished to draw, was the unselfconscious grace of a mother walking with her child on her arm. In the village Kopar, on the Sepik River, I figured out, that by sketching while walking, I could get the stance of my beautiful model. The young mother half turned and saw me walking, so she continued, smiling over her shoulder. This walk-sketching gave quite rough results, but was worth it, to capture some aspects of body language that cannot be seen when a person is sitting.

I tried to get an address on each island, to send photocopies of the drawings. I wish I could bring them back in person - and draw some more!

It was often hard to say goodbye, after sharing a good time together. I hope the sketches have recorded the feelings and the atmosphere “between the lines”.

Judith drawing on Pentecost, Vanuatu

On Ali Island, Papua New Guinea

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Judith Kunzlé was born in Switzerland and lives since 1986 in Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands.

The main theme for her art is the expression of body language in dance.

Judith sketches dancers and troupes at rehearsals and performances to study the specific movements of various dance forms. She has traveled to Tahiti, the Marquesas, Easter Island, Hawaii, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, and PNG, to draw and experience the dances from different Pacific cultures.

www.jkunzle-onpaper.com