My camera and I are ready to go. The trip ahead of me seems like a greater challenge than my previous travels, partly because of my expectations about this distant and unusual land. However, my final purpose are, as always, the people. Specifically, like all other members of our tribe, I’m traveling there to meet theirs. They gather once a year for a celebration called Sing Sing at the Mount Hagen plateau in central Papua. Through song and dance they gather families, celebrate togetherness and do business. Through this exotic, for lack of a better word, folklore show, colorful feathers, sweaty dark bodies, and thickly painted faces entrance everyone, dancers as well as the audience. Two unforgettable days go by in a blur, leaving behind open questions, hundreds of pictures in the camera, thousands of pictures in the mind.
After Mount Hagen we visit other parts of the country. Immersed in gorgeous untouched nature, we find intriguing smaller towns, events and people leading a forgotten way of life. I feel as if time has stopped and, fearful of losing the moment, capture it with my camera. The trip ends with a three day cruise down the peaceful Sepiko in a log canoe. Seated in a chair behind Tom, the chief’s son, I carefully listen to all of his stories. I promise to take them home with me, tell them and show them to my people.
Vera Bilek
Biography: Vera Bilek Živanović was born 1953. in Opatija where she still lives and works today. She graduated in stomatology at the Rijeka School of Medicine in 1978. She has acquired experience on numerous journeys around the world, including Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mali, Tibet and Papua New Guinea. She is a member of the Photography Club Rijeka.
The exhibition in Villa Angiolina will be open until February 20th of 2011.
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