PNG Art Evolution

My Painting

Art from a tree trunk or bark and an engraved rock or a cave to a touch screen or a tablet, shall we call it the evolution of art?  This is exactly how the name came about when a group of Papua New Guinea artists met together to collaborate and contribute to the economic development of their country through art in a small way.  

On the 13th of August 2016, 6 Papua New Guinean artists held an Art Exhibition at the Royal Papua Yacht Club in Port Moresby as part of their drive to promote Art and also raise some money to support a worthy cause.  The group was named "PNG Art Evolution" because it fitted well with most of what the group had showcased and also their theme.  I was among the group and was fortunate to coordinate this exhibition along with each member of the group taking responsibilities in various task.

The exhibition showcased art styles ranging from painting, ink drawings, prints, interactive artworks, digital artworks (PNG Fonts), relief art (sculpture), digital art including live art demonstrations.

Participating artists at this exhibition include; Larry Santana, Philemon Yalamu, Albert Joseph, Anderson Habiri, Pax Jakupa and Andrew Santana.  This group of artists represented the different generation of active-practicing artists who are motivated to excell through out-of-the-box thinking and practices.  Though there are many existing artists with similar ambitions, the 6 decided to collaborate and spearhead a new generation of artist who can set long term visions and work towards them.

Four of the Group Members who participated

With the theme "Retrieving the Past, Shaping the Future through Art", the group exhibited varieties of art  from contemporary art to modern art that are practiced in Papua New Guinea.

Since I was part of this group and my personal ambition was/is to see visual art be appreciated by everyone, I decided to do an interactive presentation which I refered to as interactive art or an iArt for short.

The interactive art on tablet (left)

In one of my painting titled "A Nation with Many Cultures", I integrated the artwork into a simple interactive application to allow viewers to interact with the art on a touch monitor and tablet.  This was the first ever interactive art presented in Papua New Guinea that breaks the notion of viewers being spectators or will always be spectators.  This iArt and other similar application to be created in the future, is aimed at changing the perception of viewers from being observers to become participators in the art process.  I wanted to let everyone know that we are all artists in one way or the other and we should be seeing art from a new dimension rather than the old fashion way.  In the past, artists in PNG created their artwork such as paintings, sculpture, crafts etc, then display their work for others to see however, I think this should be the thing of the past because with technology nowadays, we have to take the advantage and take our viewers through the experience of feeling art themselves.  This idea therefore came into play during this exhibition.

Just like I expected, my audience for the exhibition was not the type.  Alot of viewers saw the work however only few reacted to it with great interest and wanting to learn more about it.  The fact that technology is something alot of people are still learning, innovative ideas in PNG pertaining to technology would only be appreciated by those who acknowledge technology. 

The iArt software CD

The interactive Art (iArt) comes as a package that include a painting, an application (software) and a tablet to promote the concept.

What happens is that, whoever purchases the painting, takes the software and the tablet as a bonus.  Whereever the painting is displayed, the software can also accompany it so viewers would be able to use the virtual painting to interact and learn more about the art. 

Thankfully, this first ever interactive art for PNG is now in a new home with the Genia family and will one day become a history, I believe.