Boera showcases claypot making

By SHARLYNE ERI
The spouses of foreign heads of missions visited Boera village in the Central recently to observe the process of clay-pot making.
During the Hiri Expedition, the people of the Motuan villages traded pottery in exchange for fish and sago with the people of Gulf.
The art of pottery has been passed down over generations in the Motuan society.
The visit gave an opportunity for the local women to showcase to the spouses of the diplomats the significance of clay-pot making and the diversity of the Papua New Guinean culture.
The visitors were accompanied by the Prime Minister’s wife Lynda Babao-O’Neil and Alice Dihm, the wife of acting Foreign Affairs Secretary William Dihm.
Dihm said with the Government’s foreign policy theme ‘Connect PNG: To grow Papua New Guinea’s international connection.’
The Department of Foreign Affairs’ responsibility was to seek possible ways to give practical expression to this theme.
“This pottery-making event was one opportunity to promote an important connection between our resident diplomatic corps in PNG with a village community in the Central province, who were known for pottery making in the traditional Hiri Expedition of past years.
“It is well known and recorded in books and passed down in contemporary stories,” Dihm said.