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Papuan Cultural Carnival
Every year tens of thousands of people gather along the main streets of Manokwari town to see or participate in Cultural Carnival. The event is conducted by GKI di Tanah Papua (meaning The Evangelical Christian Church in Papua Land) to celebrate the Gospel Preaching Day, one of the most important events in West Papua. On 5 February 1855, two German evangelists Otto (together with his wife) and Geisler landed on Mansinam, a small island in the middle of Dorey bay of Manokwari. They were the first to preach Christianity to the indigenous Papuan people. Now the date has been declared and celebrated through various religious and cultural events throughout West Papua region (before 1963, its name was the Netherlands Nieuw Guinea which was under the administration of the Dutch).




Nadia Siregar master of Papuan Traditional Dance

Nadia Siregar, an Indonesian girl, began learning Papuan traditional dance in 1993 when she was still at grade 3 of elementary school. She likes dancing because she sees that Papua island has many tribes and every tribe has its own unique cultural characteristics. “They are very interesting but I only want to focus on the traditional dance,” she said.

National and International Performance
Nadia is now a member of IRIANTOS Dance Group. Its chairman is George Wellem Yomaki. Their dance group has 30 members. Together with this group, Nadia has travelled across the country and even abroad to perform various Papuan dances. Some of the festivals where she and her friends performed were:
• Papuan Art Festival in Biak island in 2002
• Multicultural Festival in Australia from 14-18 February 2004
• Dance performance in Korror city of Palau islands in 2004
• Theater Performance on the Exiled and Virtual Body in Makassar city from 10 to 11 August 2007
• Monolog Performance of Makkunrai Project at the Societet de Harmoni building of Makassar city celebrating Kartini Day on 1 May 2008
• Nusantara Cultural Carnival in Jembrana Bali in September 2008
• President and Vice President of Indonesia’s Campaign Declaration at the Monument of Proclamation in February 2009
• Festival of Folk Theater Media on national level in Malang city of East Java, 30-31 May 2009
• Nusantara Cultural Festival at the State Palace of Jakarta on 18 August 2009 read more...

Paul Warere a multi-talented Papuan artist

Paul spends most of his past time painting, carving, creating folk songs, and trying to dig the unwritten story and culture of the indigenous Papuan people.

Now he is working as a member of local government police of West Papua province. Before that he had been working as Treasurer 2 of the field office and the cooperative of PT Perkebunan II Manokwari from 2000 to 2009. It is a state owned Sawit palm plantation company.


Ms. Marice Fonataba is a hard working Papuan woman. She is a professional woven cloth maker. Her talent and skill have been recognized by government officials not only in her town Manokwari but also in other towns such as Biak and Serui. 
West Papua is not only famous of its Sarang Semut and Buah Merah medicines which many people now believe can cure various kinds of diseases.
In 1858, Alfred Russel Wallace visited Manokwari (formerly known as Dorey bay) and admired that Papuans were very brilliant artists. In his report, The Malay Archipelago, he was astonished to see that their love of art had existed side by side with their “savage” civilization; tribal wars and cannibalism. Today Papuans are fighting to survive in this 21st century. They pursue what the whole world pursue, modernism, yet the modernity doesn’t change their life habit into individualism and capitalism. They still rely on communal relations, they still love art and struggling to preserve their cultural identity.

Ms. Albertina Doropia Master of Noken Plaiting

Two days ago, I visited a West Papuan artist who is an expert in Noken plaiting. Noken is a traditional Papuan bag. It is made manually of plant fiber or nylon strings. Every tribe in West Papua has his own motifs and plaiting styles. She is Albertina Doropia. Her neighbors usually call her Mama Doropia. She makes noken everyday. The nokens are sold in the market. It takes one week to make a nylon string noken. But if the material is of natural fibers, she needs around one month to make it beginning from cutting pandanus leafs, making the strings to plaiting the bag.

Papuan Painter Lucky Kaikatui

Lucky Kaikatui is a prolific painter. Ironically, art lovers in Indonesia do not recognize him. He lives in Manokwari, a small town in the northern coast of West Papua far from and unnoticed by Indonesian mass media.

The character of this painter is very strong. This can be seen from the lines that he brushes on canvas. They are strong and full of meanings. His schoolmates have called him a brilliant illustrator since he was in the first grade of elementary school of SD Negeri I Manokwari. When the Dutch were still in Manokwari, this school was called Klim en Daal. His first drawing, entitled “Pendekar Si Kapak Hilang” (The warrior of the missing axe), was snatched away by his friends.

In junior high, Lucky’s paintings decorated the library room of his school. After completing his study in junior high, Lucky moved to Jayapura to carry on to high school. Again, in that city, he attracted people’s attention with his paintings. In 1985, he participated in a painting competition of West Papua province for high school and general levels. For high school level he was the best whereas for the general one he won the second winner. His natural talent draw