Robert@PNG

Goroka Show 2008 was held in town (Eastern Highlands Province) over the weekend on the grounds if the National Sports Institute (NSI). The weekend was a success with many sing sing groups from all over the Highlands and other parts of Papua New Guinea participating in this magnificent celebration of culture, tradition and custom.

The few photos that I did manage to snap can be found in the Goroka Show 2008 photo album.

(A Hagen Singsing group strutting their stuff at the Goroka Show 2008)

The main highlight of the weekend was Eli’s decision to “bilas” with a group of women from her clan and village. Simbu bilas is exceptional and Eli brushed up particularly well on the day - I sensed and she later told me that she was very proud to have shared and participated in an important aspect of her culture.

(Eli in bilas for Goroka Show 2008)

All in all it was a top weekend and although I did not manage to snap a great deal of photos - we had the privilege of meeting Richard - an australian photographer in town for the Goroka Show. Richard came around on the Sunday morning and photographed Eli as she was being dressed up in bilas by her aunties. We’re meeting up with Richard later this weekend and he’s agreed to give us all the shots he took of Eli as she was being transformed from a normal (but fiery) PNG women into a fully fledged Highlands beauty. I will select the best of Richard’s photos and post these for you to see.

Other highlights of the weekend were:

1. Our american friend Chris who works in Moresby came to Goroka for the show and stayed with us on the Saturday night. Chris brought a “small” gift which we managed to polish of on the Saturday evening…

(A couple of hours before this shot was taken - this bottle was sealed!)

2. Another highlight of the weekend was meeting Tim and his family - visiting from Australia and in Goroka for the Show - I took them down to the local markets on the Saturday when it started to pour and we had 45 mins of squeezing up underneath one of the market undercover areas…

(Tim and family at Goroka markets as we were waiting for the rain to stop)

3. The least pleasant of my experiences over the weekend was feeling the sting and discomfort of tear gas which the Goroka Police used on the Sunday afternoon to disperse a rowdy crowd as the Show organisers were trying to close up. Serves me right I suppose for always wanting to be close to the action. The stinging sensation in the face and eyes reminded me of the time I got dragged in to the Tarragona Police Headquarters by the spanish riot cops back in the mid seventies when I had the nasty shit sprayed directly into my eyes.

4. I’m going to mention this one again but it was a real buzz to see Eli dressed up in Simbu bilas. I was proud for her and she was on cloud nine for the rest of the day and evening. It was quite amusing as one the aunts made reference to something about marriage as she was decorating Eli.

5. And finally, I need to share (briefly) about something that come up Sunday morning. One of the young men from our village had been busy on the Friday evening and caused some major drama at a place not far out of Goroka (a death in fact). This naturally triggered some anxiety and fear amongst the clans men and clans women visiting town from the village pre empting retribution by angry relatives. At one stage one of the uncles was barricaded in a house not far from ours, surrounded by angry relatives wanting to dish out a little payback. Lucky for the uncle whom managed to escape and find his way back to the main group. This sort of stuff does make me a little nervous and I am naturally reluctant to get involved in these sorts of conflicts. As much as I love and cherish the tribal and clan experience - I cannot afford to be seen taking sides during inter clan or inter tribal conflict. If I did it would mean that I would by default become a marked man and potential target for a bush knife (or gun) wielding enemy.

Over to you…