Details

Latitude

-4.29574

Longitude

151.9885

Start Date

1993-08-02

End Date

1993-08-02

Tape#2, Tolai Warwagira discussions on 2 August 1993. Side A&B. Puek ToNata was awarded on Queens Birthday honours list in 1972 with an MBE for his broadcasting services at Radio Rabaul Station. As a Committee member to the Tolai Warwagira, be was involved both in the activities as well as live broadcast as well as recordings for delayed and late broadcasts to listeners as coverage of the festival. First held in 1971, the Tolai Warwagira Festival was the ENB Provincial Cultural Show that became an annual event that features traditional music or singsing tubuna, choir and stringband, live electric bands contests. The Kuanua word for Warwagira spoken by Tolai people is "Show or act of showing or a showcase. The competition on performances were judged by very selective, well known, reputable and iconic cultural experts on both traditional, contemporary, choral and artifects, carvings and performance decorations of traditional costumes like "blis, polopoko, tokotokoi, kangal etc" we for the expression for arts and craft, custiomes and traditions. The traditional song and dance or "singsing tubuna" were daytime activities the the types included items like "Vutung, Libung, Kulau, Parpari, Pinpidik, Tabaran (kakaka'o and pipi'il). Some singsings like Tubuan and Dukduk were restricted chiefs and elders due to sacredness and not for competition so not included in the festival. Stringbands, choirs and gospel music performers also featured in competitions The night-time activities included the Baining "kavat" fire dancers and live music bands competing with set music of songs to be performed. The preparations of the singsing tubuna items involved "kunubak" with spirits and ancestors of supernatural to perform in public and attract and have power over the judges, audiences for expressive performances showcasing the edge through beauty of art, compelling song and dance through dancers in a trance or "langoron". Other contemporary performances mainly with stringbands also has songlines involved with politics, colonisation and self determination agendas such as the "Mataungan movement" that was instrumental to the Tolai people activism for self government of the province in the 1970s'. The interviews in 1993 was about 20 years after when it started, the Warwagira slowed down a few years after the volcanic eruptions with changing priorities for social and economic developments rather than funding the arts based event. The Warwagira was to be revamped at late 1990s'. (Steven Gagau, January 2020)

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