Inspiration

 

 

Lumai was inspired by a street lined with Frangipani trees; a sleepy town with active volcanoes; fisherwomen and men selling their freshly caught catches strung up by vines by the roadside; the sweetness of kulau and it's white juicy flesh torn from the shell; the waves that caressed the coconut tree lined shores; the frightful noise made by the leaves adorning the tumbuans and dukduks as they fiercely pounded through the village; the sound of coconut pressed against a scraper as its flesh transforms into ribbons of delight; the chants and songs that filled the air telling tales of black magic; the choregraphed movements of women and men to the beat of the garamut; the woven coconut frond baskets pulled up high on the shoulder; the volcanic ash covered faces; the betelnut stained teeth; white kabang smeared on the temple of their faces; the women walking with a baby slung over their chest in a laplap with filled baskets balanced precariously on their heads; the women who's infectious laughter rips through the silence; the women who's voices ring through singsings and churches; the women who birthed you; the woman that birthed me; the women that took care of you; the women that took care of me; the women of Papua New Guinea.​