The 13th Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture may be over, but Pacific Islanders who attended say they've learned lifelong skills and lessons from each other through cultural exchange.
Indigenous artisans connected over similar struggles that span across the Pacific Ocean, including how to engage with younger generations to practice traditional and contemporary art forms.
James Bamba, an Indigenous Chamorro weaver from the Mariana Islands in Micronesia, is only one of a handful of weavers that uses akgak, or pandanus leaves. It’s used for making mats, blankets, food serving platters and more.
“The Marianas Islands are not the only islands struggling with intergenerational transmission of knowledge,” he said. “Fewer and fewer youth are interested in picking up these skill sets that have sustained our people for thousands of years.”
He said in order to preserve the tradition, Bamba uses social media to attract the younger generation.
“The younger generations are on that (social media) and they will see my weaving and be intrigued by it possibly,” he said, adding that he teaches weaving for free.
During FestPAC, Bamba was showing his work on a table at the Festival Village at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center while teaching a group of people how to weave a basket.
“I’m innovating the craft as best as I can,” he said. “Other weavers, too, are innovating and trying to enliven it again and revitalize it.”
In ancient Chamorro society, the Indigenous islanders of the Mariana Islands have been using weaving in their everyday lives to make mats, sails, hats, baskets, bags and decorative pieces.
Bamba has been weaving for nearly 30 years. He said he was inspired by his uncle’s woven coconut basket full of fruits.
He uses pandanus leaves, coconut leaves and bamboo.
He said he uses bamboo for weaving shrimp traps, while the coconut leaves, which typically become hard and brittle, are for work baskets. Pandanus leaves, which are softer, are used for weaving sleeping mats and more.
Bamba said he is one of less than 10 people who weave with pandanus leaves.
“I’m not saying that there aren’t people who can make bracelets, earrings or other trinkets,” he said. “There’s maybe quite a few, but the people who can do the traditional weaving techniques to produce our items is fewer and fewer every year.”
