Introduction
Central Bougainville, Osikaiang Carvers, 2003 Photo: Taloi Havini
YUMI YET - This is us
Bougainville is our home, our life, our culture, our identity, and it is unique. We, the Havini and Sirivi families from Bougainville Island, have brought together precious and everyday objects from our homeland and the Australian Museum Collection.
Malasang Potter, Tamana Sarenga, Buka 2003 Photo: Taloi Havini
YUMI YET - We are still here
We celebrate our culture, which has survived near destruction and is currently experiencing a revival from the ashes of war. We have weathered European colonisation (German and Australian), World War II battles and Japanese invasion, westernisation and neo-colonialism, environmental degradation and open cut mining.
Central Bougainville, Osikaiang Carvers, 2003 Photo: Taloi Havini
YUMI YET - We are one
Forged in fires of volcanic mountains on far-flung islands that provide all our needs, we have survived a ten-year blockade. Shut off from the world, we rediscovered our own resources and ancestral knowledge; we have united in a new awareness of the uniqueness of who we are.
Central Bougainville, Osikaiang Carvers, 2003 Photo: Taloi Havini
YUMI YET - We are capable
We are able to go on and become the nation we plan to be. The Bougainville Peace Process is establishing an autonomous government and a constitution written by the people. We seek to rebuild Bougainville society according to a new vision that revisits our origins and reinterprets traditional culture in today's world.
Central Bougainville, Osikaiang Carvers, 2003 Photo: Taloi Havini
YUMI YET - Today and yesterday
Over time, our artmaking has adapted to new purposes and materials, yet the individual artist's hand (evident in the infinite variety of pattern and design) retains our cultural heritage and the passing on of traditional practice. What a surprise to discover long held examples of our past in storage at the Australian Museum. Here is a chance for us to appreciate the works of our ancestors and find inspiration for today and tomorrow.
Copyright © Australian Museum, 2003
