Festivals of the Papua Peoples
Province, Western New Guinea
The population of New Guinea has long considered music and dance as an important means of communication with the world of spirits and ancestors. Ritual mysteries would give birth to extraordinarily emotional dances, which today it is still possible to observe in many parts of the island, including in the villages of the Dani people in the Baliem Valley. All residents of a village take part in the dances: men, women, and children.
The terpsichorean act begins with a ritual devotional touching of the ground and a slow circling, which gradually, to the pulsing rhythm of the drums, turns into a rather vigorous hoedown. The participants become practically entranced; they gesture rhythmically and constantly shout out some words.
The annual festival in the Baliem Valley is a venue for competition between dance troupes of different clans. These performances are also very emotional, the costumes of the participants are extraordinarily colorful, especially men's headdresses and penis guards, men's aggressive face paint, and the white spots painted on the women's bodies. Truth be told, the exotic nature of this act is slightly dampened by the presence of a giant number of spectators and tourists with cameras. The festival takes place in August, which is the peak of the tourist season in this part of Papua.
Jayapura Regency is a separate regency (kabupaten) in the Papua Province. It is located to the west of the City of Jayapura, the provincial capital and the largest city on the island, but does not include it. The Jayapura airport is the main point of transit for those wishing to travel to the northern and central parts of Papua, including for connecting flights to Baliem Valley. Every year the regency hosts two major cultural events: a festival on the shores of Lake Sentani and the Bahari Tanah Merah Maritime Festival (FBTM), which takes place on the ocean shore. The holidays have a lot in common and are held according to relatively modern standards. They have competent management, rich and well thought out programming, good technical and transportation support. There are, for instance, venues that are outfitted with decent equipment.
As for the festival participants, they arrive from various places and belong to the most diverse social groups. Actors from Jayapura, a modern city with a large seaport, churches, shopping centers, and restaurants, are very different from the villagers who arrive from Lake Sentani (which is 28 kilometers long and 19 kilometers wide), or from the coastal residents, some of whom have to travel approximately 120 kilometers from their communities to the site of the maritime festival. And so it is that during the festival a Catholic choir recital can be followed by a set performed by a group of painted villagers carrying spears and wearing traditional grass skirts. The most impressive parts of those festivals are the parades and war dances performed on solid ground as well as on boats, and which number hundreds of participants. Additionally, the festivals include singing competitions, beauty pageants, food bazaars, crafts shows. Without a doubt, the festivals play a significant role in the preservation of cultural heritage of the Papua people.
