11th Festival of Pacific Arts Participant Lanyard

This lanyard was part of the group of items gifted by festival organisers to Puawai Cairns. As Curator for Contemporary Maori Culture at Te Papa Tongarewa, Cairns was part of the New Zealand delegation for the 11^th Festival of Pacific Arts, Solomon Islands 2012.  Delegations and participants were all assigned lanyards to identify where they were from and for security purposes.

 

The Festival of Pacific Arts

 

An initiative started in 1972 by the Conference of the South Pacific Commission, this is a travelling festival held every four years in the Pacific region. It involves the participation of 27 countries in the Pacific, inclusive of Aotearoa New Zealand.  The festival features a range of artforms, and is one of the longest-running and largest celebrations of indigenous art and culture in the world.