Bethany and her friends are regularly invited to attend the opening of exhibitions at the stately building that was originally opened as a Methodist Church in the 1860’s. Converted to a Masonic hall, in the 1920’s, it is now the up market Annadale Gallery, situated in a trendy inner city suburb in Sydney, Australia.
The owners of the Gallery have earned their enviable reputation in the art world, through specialist showings of the very best in Australian and overseas modern art
The invitation, on the 22nd July, appeared to be exceptional from the start. It spoke of secret rare art. Never before had the sacred art been seen outside of the tiny remote tropical island, South Pacific archipelago, Vanuatu.
At the opening a group of nine Ni-Vanuatu artists, dressed in full custom regalia, would perform a sacred ceremonial dance from the remote island of Ambrym. It all sounded rather mysterious and lots of fun.
Eagerly Bethany arranged with two friends to attend the opening, before they went to dinner at one of the fine restaurants around Darling Harbour. The girls had long ago made the firm decision to either be driven by one of their husbands or dropped off, or go in a taxi, in order to do away with the problem of trying to work their way through the Sydney traffic and finding a park for the Mercedes-Benz.
“Arriving a little later than we expected because of the Sydney traffic, we were greeted by the lovely sounds of a string band playing island music as we approached the doorway to the Gallery,”
Bethany told me “It sounded as if the South Seas had come to town. Made one think of swaying palms and blue green tropical oceans. It was inviting to think of taking that South Pacific cruise my husband and I have been promising ourselves” she mused.
As Bethany and her two friends sipped their champagne glass of icy cold French Champagne, they joined the other guests. The room buzzed with excitement, as they admired the beautifully carved wooden figures and masks. A four metre wooden drum, (tam-tam,) one of the world’s largest free standing musical instruments, towered over their heads.“We understood this unique art to be very ancient and rare, yet it could be easily mistaken for any piece of modern artwork,” the curator of the Gallery David Baker said. “There is only one piece similar to it in a British museum.“
A barely clad figure stepped up to the wooden tam-tam. With a small wooden club he began a methodical beat on the lip of the face. A face that had been stylized to represent an ancestor. The long slit up the front of the drum giving the ancestor a voice once more.Next came four dancers, each dressed from head-to-toe in what looked like a tent outfit made of dried leaves. Their faces covered with brightly painted wooden masks, topped with chicken feathers.
In a slow rhythmical, almost dreamlike shuffle, the dancers advanced to the center of the room, their voices raised in a monotonal chant. Into the centre of these four dancers, stomping, clapping and chanting came five other men dressed, in the full regalia of their secret society. ‘Regalia’ being a misnomer.
The faces of the matrons of Sydney registered utter shock. The five mature Ambrym men were dressed only with a wide bark belt slung low over their hips. A Nambas penis sheath barely covering the essential part of manhood. A bright red hibiscus flower adorned one ear.
The men were unaware of the sensation they were causing. Their gleaming and well formed buttocks jiggling up and down in time to the beat of the drum as they concentrated on their sacred dance.
"When the dancers first entered the room it was rather awkward to know where to put one’s eyes. I haven’t seen that much bare bottom since my four children were tiny," laughed Bethany.
It is one thing to imagine these men dancing in the soft lighting of a tropical island forest, bare feet pounding out the ceremonial rhythm on a dirt floor, but to think of them as having just come from a modern hotel room, braving the Sydney traffic, and Australian winter, was a mind bending thought.
"We were told these men are taboo and no women are permitted to touch them even today," laughed Bethany. "In fact, if any female saw them performing the dance, in times past, they had to be killed. A good thing that doesn’t apply today."
In the beautiful tropical islands of Vanuatu, voted the Happiest Country on Earth in 2006, with its remote distances and few modern communication devices, not to mention over 153 distinct cultures and languages, life moves at a different pace.
Dance and songs, carvings and sand drawings tell the stories of this ancient culture. Tradition being handed down orally from generation to generation. In many areas the villagers live as their ancestors did.
The Chiefs of Vanuatu are beginning to recognize the educational needs of these remote islands. Many of the younger generations have lost the ability to understand the mystic language of the carved gongs. The decision was made to share the secrets of their society and release some of their sacred rare art, setting the art world on its ear. Their aim was to inspire their young people and make them more aware of their ancient culture.
No one was aware that the tiny nation, a neighbor of Australia, still had such wonderful secrets tucked away, in the ‘Must See’ Travel Adventure Destination of the South Pacific.
The children of Vanuatu dream of becoming pilots, teachers, and engineers as this ancient society reaches out for the benefits of modern civilization. Many of the villagers live on under $1 per day. They can’t pay the school fees, in a nation where there is no free education. The results are horrifying.
· 26% of children never go to school.
· Only 55.8% of kids will get to year 6
· Only 18.2 % will go to high school.
In 2007 the Vanuatu government admitted that it did not have the finances to meet the educational needs of the nation. In this Lesser Developed Nation, so many issues appear to get priority over education.
YouMe Support Foundation and its Child Trust Fund fills a unique niche in these children’s lives. Children, who without outside assistance, will never see the inside of a high school classroom.
YouMe Support Foundation is offering a a unique once in a lifetime Blue Moon Opportunity. It could change your life and it will change the lives of these great kids. This is an opportunity you can’t afford to miss. Help some children who will not be afraid to wholeheartedly reach out and embrace the head on collision of two societies.
