Traditional canoe built for journey towards Apec

A community in Morobe is constructing a traditional Kasali (canoe) to accompany a Sorong contemporary music troupe from West Papua on a voyage to attend Kundu and Kenu Festival in Alotau then sail on to attend the Apec meeting in Port Moresby.
The kasali, from Buingim along Bukawa coastline in Nawaeb, will accompany the West Papuans on the journey in the middle of this year.
Morobe artists David Ngawi, Markham Galut, Chris Urio and Maine Winnie (Culture Link), in collaboration with Morobe tourism bureau, are preparing to host the troupe in Lae before travelling to Northern, Alotau and then Port Moresby.
Ngawi said both canoes were expected to carry 20 traditional theatre and contemporary artists with 1000 kundus to showcase at the Kundu and Kenu Festival and the Apec summit.
He said the news about the Sorong-Samarai expedition interested the Buingim villagers who support theatre performing arts.
“Buingim villagers have the cultural skills in canoe voyaging to trade as far as Siassi, Sialum and Salamaua,” he said.
“We make kundus for dancing and we share similarities with our Melanesian brothers and sisters from West Papua, hence we cannot sit to watch them sail by Morobe.”
Ngawi said that they were acting on behalf of nine Morobe districts.
“The idea was not only to accompany the West Papuan troupe but to revive cultural skills to ensure the community secures its traditional knowledge systems as the cornerstone to be used for other socio-economic purposes,” he said.
Village elder Jerry Moses said that the last Kasali was built in 1949 and was called Selembe.