Uramat Mugas: Uramat Story Songs [Video]

Developed in collaboration with Papua New Guinea’s Indigenous Uramat Identity group for ‘The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT10), the Uramat Mugas (Uramat Story Songs) project immerses the viewer in the mysteries of Uramat ceremony while fostering deeper cultural understanding.

The days begin early in Gaulim, the bustling village in East New Britain’s Baining mountains that the Indigenous Uramat clan calls home. When I wake in a small hut on a visit there in 2019, the world is particularly saturated with sound: raucous cicadas and roosters lead an acapella chorus.¹ Small children living nearby — in ply- and iron-walled, village-built dwellings — join in with their patter of laughter and sibling arguments. From the road close by, women carrying swollen bilum (bags) full of produce from their gardens emit a cloud of rhythmic easy chatter as they walk in small groups to the morning market.