AUSTRALIAN SOUTH SEA ISLANDERS EXHIBITION LAUNCHED

Honourable Samuel Manetoali. Photo credit: SIBC.

Minister for Culture and Tourism, Samuel Manetoali has officially launched the Australian South Sea Islanders exhibition project at the National Art Gallery in Honiara.

The 3-day exhibition shows photographs and other audio-visual displays of Solomon Islanders and other Pacific Islanders who were taken to Australia to work as indentured laborers in the country’s sugarcane plantations.

The exhibition, which ends on Sunday, is also to commemorate the one-hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of the first South Sea Islanders in Queensland, Australia.

Speaking to open the exhibition this morning, Minister Manetoali said the exhibition is the result of the Ministry’s interpretation of this year’s theme, “Museum Collections: Make Connections”.

“The Solomon Islands National Museum in its attempt to interpret the theme has been working on the Australian South Sea Islanders exhibition project since last year because the year 2013 marks the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first South Sea Islanders in Queensland, Australia, but last year we were not able to launch the exhibition due to various factors, so this year we have decided to develop the Australian South Sea Islanders exhibition project as part of the International Museum Day celebrations.”

SIBC News understands the exhibition will also include panel discussions, traditional, cultural and contemporary dances and live band performances.