Papua New Guinea Cultural Development

A four-week mission was undertaken in Papua New Guinea to evaluate the work of the National Cultural Council and the Provincial Cultural Centres and the relationships between them, and to advise on the development of cultural centres with special regard to their structures, functions and programmes, as well as to their coordination. After ten days had been spent in Port Moresby studying the national institutions, the National Theatre and Arts School, the National Museum and the Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies, 3 provincial cultural centres were visited in the Highlands, as well as one in Madang, 2 in the Islands, and the Raun Raun Theatre etc. in Goroka. The provincial cultural centres had developed differently according to the interests of different organizers and the patterns of the local cultures. All had small museums but one was also an art school, another included the Public Library, and another promoted a drama group. In the course of the study, the role of the arts in formal education emerged as a crucial factor, because the work of cultural centres could be negated by the diminishing attention to the expressive arts in schools. A comparison and synthesis of the centres suggested that they should move in the direction of catering for all sections of the community and combining traditional (e.g. dances) with modern (e.g. Public Library), so that different classes of people
should not become estranged from each other.