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209 Producing Inalienable Objects in a Global Market The Solien Besena in Contemporary Australia Jacquelyn A. Lewis-Harris The Solien Besena are a unique cultural group originating from the Motu-Koita and Tatana people of the Papua New Guinea south coast region, between Tatana Island and the Brown River. Numerous clan members migrated to eastern Australia in the 1970s up until the late 1990s. The Solien Besena now hold a distinctive ethnic marginality in both Papua New Guinea and Australia and consequently they aggressively promote their culture despite societal pressures from the dominant Australian population and other Papua New Guinean groups. They are recognized for their exemplary cultural development work in Brisbane and Sydney, having been invited to two Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art exhibits and numerous art festivals along the east coast of Australia. Solien Besena secular dance performances are performed in Australia during national holiday celebrations and local events. The Roroipe dance cycle, part of the larger Guma Roho funerary ceremony, is performed on rare occasions. It marks the end of mourning and completes outstanding reciprocity claims (Seligmann 1910; Choulai 1997). Central to this discussion is the management of dance components by contemporary Solien Besena artist Wendi Choulai and her clan members in preparation for the 1996 Roroipe performance at the Second Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in Brisbane. This chapter examines the economic cost of maintaining Solien Besena culture in Australia within an atmosphere of shifting cultural meanings and values. This will be examined by way of two examples, the first being the unusually dominant role of women as cultural knowledge brokers within a customary patrilineal group and the evolution of a secondary economy, encompassing the concept of inalienable wealth and possessions, that has evolved; it is based upon a cultural currency of scarce dance components —specific choreography, chants, and costume items. These components gain their value through the trader’s manipulation of the contexts in which they are used and exchanged. When discussing dance, Solien Besena women often declare, “Aina asi a mavaru kavamu,” meaning “We don’t dance for no meaning” or “We don’t dance for nothing.” 210 | Producing Inalienable Objects in a Global Market The frequent use of this phrase reinforces for those among the group, as well as for the casual listener, that there is a monetary value placed upon their dance activities. They are quick to explain that all their dances are “called” or arranged with an initial exchange of betel nut or cash; therefore, the performance itself is an article of trade. As C. A. Gregory observed in his Papua New Guinea research: “Economic activity is not a natural form of activity. It is a social act and its meaning must be understood with reference to the social relationships between people in historically specific settings” (Gregory 1982: 115). Economic activity lies at the core of Solien Besena dance culture and it is an essential part of their historical and social relationships. Women’s conversations are laced with accounts relating to the intricacies and burdens of financial survival while “keeping the culture” and supporting the dance groups in Australia. Through my interviews and conversations I observed that personal power, contestable values, and commodification all play a part in the dancer’s interchange and group trade of costume materials, lyrics, and choreography. The ownership and knowledge of the dance unit, as well as the consequent gifting of costume material, reinforces the status of the dance group leaders and performing artists. There was an ongoing rivalry between the Australian-based groups revolving around the rights to the most traditional items, choreography, and lyrics. The majority of the tension and disagreements among dancers and dance troupes primarily arose from the recognition of the material’s monetary and cultural value and its relationship to power. A similar dynamic was discussed in Harrison’s article “The Commerce of Cultures in Melanesia” (Harrison 1993) and described by Thomas: “the artifact is not simply a valuable object of exchange or even a gift that creates relations of one sort or another but also a crucial index of the extent to which those relations are sustained or disfigured” (Thomas 1991: 19). The continual search for female dance skirts and the maintenance of good relationships with those close or distant relatives who supply crucial costume materials illustrate how dance relations rotate around the exchange of important cultural items and sustain relationships among the groups. This activity relates not only to Thomas’ and Harrison’s research but also to...

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