Papua New Guinea - Ilahita Cultural Village
Location
Ilahita, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea.
Geography
The community of Ilahita is in a rural village located in the East Sepik Province on the northern part of PNG mainland. It is 140kms or four hours by road westward from Wewak, the provincial capital and one hour by car from Maprik, the local government administrative centre. Ilahita is made up of seven villages (named Filifita 1-7) and strikingly, four of these villages are situated on four ridges that resonate from one central location creating a starfish shape. The seven villages have a population of approximately 5,000, and serve as the administrative and services centre for the Filifitans and include 14 surrounding communities also numbering approximately 5,000. The village lies at the foothills of the Prince Alexander and Torricelli ranges that divide the coast and the flood plains of the famous Sepik River.
Culture
As we know, PNG has over 800 languages and cultures and Ilahita has one of the unique cultural architectural designs for its cultural rituals houses similar to the shape of the Sydney Opera House but highly decorative within the Melanesian societies.
Ilahita is an Arapesh speaking village with a rich cultural history in the Sepik area and the whole of PNG where spirituality and the cultural rituals revolved around annual yam harvests. The rituals and festivals are depicted through their designs and artwork on the front and interior decorations of the “haus Tambarans” (spiritual and men’s initiation houses). The PNG National Parliament frontage reflects the architectural designs from Ilahita other than the other Maprik or East Sepik Haus Tambarans.
Architectural features and powerful symbols of note include:
- The striking haus tambarans unique to the East Sepik region of PNG.
- The southern cross, representing the four original sons of Ilahita who dispersed to the north, south, east & west to create communities in those directions.
- Male and Female symbols (cassowary = female symbol, serpent = male).
- 2 hornbills placed side by side as a totem for Ilahita haus tambaran, guards of the spirit.
- 7 Ilahita villages all had distinctive traditional cultural symbols unique to them.
Socio-Economic
Ilahitans are subsistence farmers, but since the 1970s cash crops such as coffee, vanilla and cocoa made their way into the community to provide cash for their modern needs. The recent statistics recorded by government officials indicated that an average earning of a typical villager is equivalent to AUD$100.00 per annum. As globalization flourished through this community in the mid-1980’s they have become a primarily Christian community with ever–diminishing traditional cultural beliefs and practices. In the last 10 years, the Ilahitans collaborated with skilled professionals from Melbourne and formed the Ilahita Melbourne Community Association (IMCA) as an NGO to address issues of Healthcare, Education, Water and Sanitation and Economic and Social Development as the key foci. These services have been unavailable or inadequately supported and the community is seeking assistance to set up infrastructure to improve their cash flow opportunities.
Project Aim
Ilahita is at a crossroads entering an unprecedented era of change as ancient cultural ways blend with the globalised world of modern education, healthcare and economic development. The community has initiated and built a community accommodation centre and now are keen to support a village development plan that incorporates the structural needs of modern architectural designs for their administration, resource and technology, policing and cultural infrastructure whilst maintaining the best cultural characteristics that have defined their past.
Objectives
- Culturally appropriate architecture to promote a pride and awareness of the defining and unifying characteristics of Ilahita art and culture. Buildings should reflect the different specific symbols of the 7 Ilahita villages in a central unifying meeting place.
- Overall design should reflect the social mores of Melanesian culture in a modern and evolving setting.
- Sustainable buildings should merge long-lasting modern materials with traditional design and finishes.
- Environmentally and ecologically sensitive design and technology.
- Flexibility of design to incorporate future community needs.
- Gender equity – meeting and organisational spaces should reflect the equal but separate roles performed by men and women in Ilahita culture.
Physical Facilities Required
- Office and Administration building
- Community Meeting Place / Women’s Centre
- Community Library and Training Centre
- Village Court / Police Administration
- Village Market and Cultural Centre
- 7 Healthy Island buildings to incorporate adult/elementary classrooms in each village
Design Criteria
- “T-shaped or star shape” representing Southern Cross as a cultural symbol of Ilahita to cater for Office/Administration, Training centre, Library and Cultural centre.
- “Cassowary shape” building representing the women who produce the children of Ilahita to cater for a women’s centre, market room, general meeting place.
- “Shape of two hornbills face to face” to cater for a policing office and village court room.
- All frontage with “Haus Tambaran” style.
- Traditional materials blended with modern sustainable architecture.
- Incorporate traditional carved posts, woven mat ceilings and walling and other cultural symbols.
Sustainability
- Use of ecological sustainable technology to provide light and power to incorporate modern efficient educational and administrative services.
- Water and sanitation services to be incorporated into the designs for public use including roof water catchment and dry composting toilets.
- Cultural Knowledge Transfer - Continuation of cultural knowledge transfer to younger generations.