THE BLACK ISLANDS - Spirit and War in Melanesia, photographs by Ben Bohane, curated by Ana Terry & Don Hunter, Vanuatu Cultural Centre Collection, exhibited at the National Army Museum, Waiouru (2012), Pataka 2013)
To the north of New Zealand and Australia lie “the black islands” – the archipelago of Melanesian nations from Timor to Fiji. In recent years this area of the Pacific has come to be known as the “arc of instability” as warring fractions have taken hold. These conflicts have heightened our apprehensions of the remote islands and their people. The legacy of hostile early cross-cultural encounters have instigated these fears while the foreignness of kastom[1] spirituality and ritual continue to reinforce our perceptions. In turn these fears are fuelled by sensationalist media coverage of the people and place.
For the past 16 years photo journalist Ben Bohane has journeyed through these islands to find and document the spirit worlds local people inhabit, so as to better understand their circumstances and ours. It is a journey through kastom, cultism and conflict in what remains the most under-reported region in the world. Yet the Pacific is growing in strategic significance as mounting tensions rise between the US and China for control of the Pacific Rim, and Australian and New Zealand troops find themselves increasingly drawn in. Bohane believes that for us to begin to gain a basic understanding of this region and our own place within it we need to take off our “secular goggles and immersing ourselves in the spirit world of our near neighbors...”
The Black Islands photographic exhibition provides a unique opportunity for New Zealand audiences to gain an insight into the complex realities of our Melanesian neighbors. Through Bohane’s photographs we are given a window into these worlds otherwise unseen or censored. The photographs reveal the turbulent, layered relationships between traditional kastom beliefs and Christianity embroiled into social and political movements of the area. Bohane’s ongoing self funded commitment to documenting the conflicts of Melanesia and its people is evident in these sensitively considered and pragmatic images. The necessary trust and right to document these events and portraits has come about through Bohane’s research methodology known as Participatory Action Research. This modis operandi “aspires to engage all parties, observers and ‘subjects’ alike in a power sharing dynamic through informed consent – a far cry from the stereotype of photo journalists as shoot-and-run ambulance chaser, or cool and disconnected observer.”[2] Bohane’s attentive practice is immersive and involves living with a wide range of kastom, tribal and rebel groups, and at times risking his life. These works reveal the acutely humanistic side of war and spirituality generating empathy which may transcend our cultural differences while eliciting critical engagement. (Ana Terry, 2010)
References:
1. Kastom is a broad term derived from Tok Pisin (Melanesian pidgin) for ‘custom’. It describes religious movements based in traditional spirituality that are hybridizing with western religions, culture and warfare.
2. Bec Dean, Black Islands catalogue essay, produced by the Australian Centre for Photography, NSW, 2006.
www.wakamedia.net
www.degreesouth.com
To the north of New Zealand and Australia lie “the black islands” – the archipelago of Melanesian nations from Timor to Fiji. In recent years this area of the Pacific has come to be known as the “arc of instability” as warring fractions have taken hold. These conflicts have heightened our apprehensions of the remote islands and their people. The legacy of hostile early cross-cultural encounters have instigated these fears while the foreignness of kastom[1] spirituality and ritual continue to reinforce our perceptions. In turn these fears are fuelled by sensationalist media coverage of the people and place.
For the past 16 years photo journalist Ben Bohane has journeyed through these islands to find and document the spirit worlds local people inhabit, so as to better understand their circumstances and ours. It is a journey through kastom, cultism and conflict in what remains the most under-reported region in the world. Yet the Pacific is growing in strategic significance as mounting tensions rise between the US and China for control of the Pacific Rim, and Australian and New Zealand troops find themselves increasingly drawn in. Bohane believes that for us to begin to gain a basic understanding of this region and our own place within it we need to take off our “secular goggles and immersing ourselves in the spirit world of our near neighbors...”
The Black Islands photographic exhibition provides a unique opportunity for New Zealand audiences to gain an insight into the complex realities of our Melanesian neighbors. Through Bohane’s photographs we are given a window into these worlds otherwise unseen or censored. The photographs reveal the turbulent, layered relationships between traditional kastom beliefs and Christianity embroiled into social and political movements of the area. Bohane’s ongoing self funded commitment to documenting the conflicts of Melanesia and its people is evident in these sensitively considered and pragmatic images. The necessary trust and right to document these events and portraits has come about through Bohane’s research methodology known as Participatory Action Research. This modis operandi “aspires to engage all parties, observers and ‘subjects’ alike in a power sharing dynamic through informed consent – a far cry from the stereotype of photo journalists as shoot-and-run ambulance chaser, or cool and disconnected observer.”[2] Bohane’s attentive practice is immersive and involves living with a wide range of kastom, tribal and rebel groups, and at times risking his life. These works reveal the acutely humanistic side of war and spirituality generating empathy which may transcend our cultural differences while eliciting critical engagement. (Ana Terry, 2010)
References:
1. Kastom is a broad term derived from Tok Pisin (Melanesian pidgin) for ‘custom’. It describes religious movements based in traditional spirituality that are hybridizing with western religions, culture and warfare.
2. Bec Dean, Black Islands catalogue essay, produced by the Australian Centre for Photography, NSW, 2006.
www.wakamedia.net
www.degreesouth.com