Policy creates home for music

PAPUA New Guinean musician Allen Kedea, commonly known as AK47, says artists and musicians can have confidence that the Government will address some of their concerns.
Kedea said this would be possible through the new PNG national cultural policy 2022 – 2032 launched in Port Moresby last Thursday.
Kedea, who was part of the consultation dialogue towards the creation of the policy, said: “I am very thankful that Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry, Tourism Promotion Authority and National Cultural Commission (NCC) and National Executive Council have set about a blueprint to architect and build our new home.
“Music in PNG now has a place we can call home under the NCC, we are looking forward to working with NCC and the government to help promote and protect our culture in PNG and across the world.”
Kedea said: “As the interim president of the Central Music Association and a proud Papua New Guinean artist, musician, song writer and producer, I am thankful and humbled to be able to speak on behalf of the musicians in PNG.
“This is a momentous occasion, for the official launching of PNG’s first national cultural policy 2022 – 2032, thank you for including us and consulting us as part of the dialogue of putting this policy together,” he said. “Many others find home temporarily within big studios but some kept independent, however after the explosion of internet in 2000, the advent of MP3s, Bluetooth and flash drives crippled our music not only in PNG, but around the world.
“It brought about things like music piracy, illegal sales of our local music therefore cutting the little income that our artists can earn, as the big studios closed, our artists were left wondering how to fend for themselves, and for the last 30 years, it has been very hard,” he said.