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| Festival des Arts du Pacifique | |
|---|---|
| Name | Festival des Arts du Pacifique |
| Native name | Festival des Arts du Pacifique |
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Multidisciplinary arts festival |
| Frequency | Quadrennial |
| Location | Nouméa, Papeete, Suva |
| First | 1972 |
| Participants | Artists from Oceania, Asia, Americas |
Festival des Arts du Pacifique is a multinational arts festival celebrating Indigenous and contemporary cultures across Oceania and adjacent regions, held periodically with major gatherings in cities such as Nouméa, Papeete, and Suva. The festival convenes artists, performers, scholars, and policymakers from territories including French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Hawai‘i, and Aotearoa, linking institutions like the Musée de Nouvelle-Calédonie, the Institut du Monde Arabe, and the University of the South Pacific. It functions as a cultural diplomacy forum among entities such as the Government of France in New Caledonia, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, the Pacific Islands Forum, and UNESCO cultural programmes.
The festival traces roots to early regional gatherings influenced by colonial-era exhibitions such as the 19th-century Paris Exposition, the 1911 Colonial Exhibition, and the postwar cultural initiatives of the 1950s and 1960s that involved bodies like the French Institute, the Carnegie Corporation, and the Pacific Science Board. Early editions were shaped by interactions among leaders from Tahiti, New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, and the Cook Islands alongside figures associated with the South Pacific Commission, the High Commission of New Caledonia, and the Territory of French Polynesia. Subsequent editions reflected geopolitical shifts involving the Nouméa Accord, the independence movements of Papua New Guinea, the decolonisation debates in New Caledonia, and the cultural policies promoted by UNESCO and the Commonwealth of Nations. Major historical milestones include landmark programmes developed in collaboration with the Musée du Quai Branly, the Centre Georges Pompidou, the University of Hawai‘i, and the Australian National University.
Festival coordination has ranged from municipal administrations in Nouméa and Papeete to regional bodies such as the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, the University of the South Pacific, and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Governance models have involved partnerships among the Government of New Caledonia, the Government of French Polynesia, the Government of Fiji, the French Ministry of Culture, and non-governmental organisations like the International Council on Monuments and Sites and the Pacific Community Cultural Programme. Funding and patronage have drawn on institutions including the European Union regional programmes, the Agence Française de Développement, the Ford Foundation, the Asia-Europe Foundation, and private sponsors such as Crédit Agricole and Aircalin. Advisory boards have included representatives from the Musée du Quai Branly, Te Papa Tongarewa, the Bishop Museum, the Australian Museum, and the Smithsonian Institution.
Programme elements have combined ceremonies, exhibitions, workshops, and competitions that feature collaborations with conservatories, academies, and cultural centres such as the Conservatoire de musique et de danse de Guyane, the School of Art at the University of Canterbury, and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat arts units. Key events include opening ceremonies modelled on protocols from Mana ceremonies in Hawai‘i, vaka processions akin to Polynesian navigation traditions, kapa haka performances linked to Te Matatini, and contemporary exhibitions curated with input from curators at the Musée du Quai Branly, the National Gallery of Australia, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Ancillary sessions have involved seminars with scholars from the University of the South Pacific, the Australian National University, the University of Auckland, and the University of Hawai‘i Mānoa, alongside residencies supported by the Japan Foundation, the British Council, and the New Zealand Arts Council.
Participants encompass nation-states, territories, and Indigenous communities across Oceania and neighbouring regions, including delegations from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, Niue, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Hawai‘i, and Aotearoa. Cultural delegations have collaborated with diasporic networks in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, and France, and with institutions such as the Pacific Islands Forum, the Polynesian Voyaging Society, the Māori Arts and Crafts Institute, the Kanak Cultural Centre, and the Tahitian Academy (Académie tahitienne). Representation has also included immigrant communities from the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, and China participating via consulates, cultural centres, and NGOs.
The festival showcases a wide range of artistic media and traditions including vaka carving associated with Māori waka and Polynesian voyaging, tapa cloth production linked to Samoan siapo and Tongan ngatu, dance forms such as haka, siva, tauolunga, and ori Tahiti, as well as contemporary visual arts, film, theatre, and music drawing on influences from the Bishop Museum collections, Te Papa Tongarewa archives, and the Musée du Quai Branly collections. Craft traditions include wood carving with links to Kanak sculptural practices, pandanus weaving connected to Fijian masi and Solomon Islands pandanus mats, pearl cultivation exhibitions reflecting ties to the South Sea Pearl industry and museums like the National Maritime Museum, and contemporary collaborations with galleries such as the National Gallery of Victoria and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
The festival has influenced cultural policy and heritage programmes across the Pacific, informing initiatives by UNESCO, the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, the University of the South Pacific, the Pacific Islands Forum, and national ministries of culture in New Caledonia, French Polynesia, and Fiji. It has contributed to the revitalisation of languages such as Te Reo Māori, Tahitian, Samoan, and Gilbertese through partnerships with language institutes including the Académie tahitienne, Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, and the Institute of Pacific Languages. Economically, the festival has affected tourism flows with links to Aircalin, Air New Zealand, and Fiji Airways, and generated curatorial exchanges among the Musée du Quai Branly, the Bishop Museum, and Te Papa Tongarewa.
Critiques have centred on questions of representation highlighted by activists from pro-independence movements in New Caledonia, Kanak leaders, and commentators associated with the Nouméa Accord, concerns about commercialisation raised by trade unions and artisanal cooperatives, disputes over intellectual property involving Indigenous cultural rights advocates and organisations such as the World Intellectual Property Organization, and tensions between metropolitan cultural institutions like the Musée du Quai Branly and local community custodians. Debates have also involved funding priorities contested by regional bodies such as the Pacific Islands Forum and donors including the European Union and Agence Française de Développement.
Category:Festivals in Oceania