Last Sunday, September 12, saw the official launch of the 4th “Festival des Arts Mélanésiens” in Koné, north-west New Caledonia; a kaleidoscopic event taking place over twelve days in various spots around the country, on the main island, Grande Terre, as well as on the islands of Ouvéa, Lifou and Maré.

After the Solomon Islands in 1998, Vanuatu in 2002 and Fidji in 2006, the festival is being held on the islands of the New Caledonian archipelago for the very first time. In total, no less than 800 people will be showing out their skills in all possible cultural spheres: dance, music, sculpture, painting, weaving, fashion, etc.

The guests come from all over Melanesia. An opportunity for a quick look on these tiny misknown countries of Oceania:

– Fidji Islands: Population 844 000, republic, independent since 1970

– Papua New Guinea: Pop. 6 610 000, constitutional monarchy, independent since 1975

– Solomon Islands: Pop. 535 000, parliamentary monarchy, independent since 1978

– Vanuatu: Pop. 239 000, independent republic since 1980

– New Caledonia: Pop. 246 000, sui generis collectivity.

These five countries obviously share cultural ties, and more specifically linguistic ties: the native languages of all these islands are Melanesian languages, which themselves all belong to the “mega” Austronesian language family, geographically the largest language family in the world, along with the Indo-European family.

Only two of the countries invited to the festival totalize over 900 languages (out of the ca. 6000 languages of the planet), with ca. 800 linguistic groups in Papua New Guinea, and around a hundred languages in Vanuatu!

No wonder the question of language is important here. And the organizers of the event have taken this fundamental aspect of their cultures into account: they will be hosting a symposium on Melanesian languages on September 21 and 22, in partnership with the “Académie des Langues Kanak”. Sorosoro Director Rozenn Milin will be present at the conference, and she’ll speak on the audiovisual documentation of oral languages.

For more information on the festival: http://melanesia2010.nc/

« Académie des Langues Kanak » website: http://www.alk.gouv.nc/portal/page/portal/alk/