IT HAS taken many years but artist Max Tihu, 45 from Morobe province believes he’s about to get his lucky break.
Max, a screen printer and artist by profession was recently notified by the National Cultural Commission (NCC) that his expression of interest to participate at the South Pacific Festival in Arts in American Samoa in October this year has been accepted.
“I am overjoyed. I have worked so hard and so long over the years designing, painting, establishing a business and building my clientele and this is the break I have been waiting for,” Max told The National Weekender this week.
But the opportunity to attend this Festival which brings together arts and crafts people from all over the Pacific depends on whether he can raise the levy fee of K4,125.00.
This fee to be paid to the NCC will cover the cost of his passport, birth certificate, travel allowance, insurance and fumigation of his products.
Max is appealing for help from the public and business houses to help meet this cost.
This is his first overseas trip and he believes such festivals provide opportunities for artists and craftspeople to explore and tap into overseas markets.
Max, owns a company known as Maxi’z Arts. Operating from his home at the Morobe Block at Nine Mile settlement outside Port Moresby, Max knows the struggles that artists in PNG have to endure.
“It is not easy to survive as an artist in PNG. One has to struggle to sell their paintings, often times, artists are cheated, their work is bought cheap and resold for higher prices to other clients,”
Max learnt how to screen print in his Expressive Arts lessons at Bugandi high school in Morobe province.
“I was not really keen in art work, I wanted to become a teacher, but when I was not selected to further my education at a teachers college, I went back to the village and got help from a sister and an in-law to start a chicken farm,”
From his first K200 made from chicken sales Max decided to buy stencils and paint and put into practice what he learnt in his Expressive Arts screen printing lessons.
He began by printing logo designs for the PNG Forest Products in 1986.
He moved to Port Moresby in 1988 and got a job with Robello Fashion.
All the while he was painting, screen printing and looking for buyers.
Over the years the quality of his work and his professionalism helped him establish contact with and earn income from organisations such as the National Museum, Boroko Foodworld, Studio Y (YWCA) and Bingzu at Jackson Airport.
He mainly does screen printing in PNG designs on laplaps, t-shirts, caps and bags.
In 2005 Max participated in a competition organised by the NCC for a PNG national dress.
His entry, a shirt with PNG designs, with faces of Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare on the right and PNG flags on the left won second prize in the male category division.
He then took part for the first time in an exhibition organised by the NCC at the Sir John Stadium last year.
Through his sales he bought a four color table top screen printing machine from FT Wimble.
“The machine has helped me a lot. I am able to print 100 t-shirts in two hours. It allows me to meet the demands of my clients on time,” he said.
His major clients include PNG Art, Niugini Duty Free, Loloata Island Resort and Deco Galore.
Business has been good so far but Max says what he makes goes back into looking after his wife and family of five and keeping the business going.
“It’s tough been an artist but I have always believed in what I do and I believe God honours commitment. I have been doing this for the past 18 years, the going has not always been easy, sometimes I make money, sometimes I don’t,
“Going to Samoa for the Festival of Arts is a golden opportunity for me, for exposure, to tap into the overseas market,
“I believe the Government should assist artists and crafts people in this area,
“The Government always talks about tourism and our culture and tradition but it is only talk, there really is no financial and moral support for artists,
“You find us walking the streets, sitting outside hotels, and airports, hoping that our products will catch the eye of tourists, it’s tough, at the end of the day, if your art work is sold, your family eats, if not, they don’t,”
“I am thankful to the NCC for all it is doing to promote and safe guard PNG art, culture, tradition and literature, these things are the soul of our nation, it is what distinguishes us as a people, a race and a nation,” Max said.
His appeal for help is genuine, he started with nothing and has worked hard to get to where he is in the industry in PNG.
He is asking help from the public and business houses to go that one step further to showcase his work to the region and the world.
Those willing to help can do so by depositing money into this account: Maxi’z Arts. Account number 1001223800. Bank South Pacific, Waigani.
Max can be contacted on: 684 4780

 

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