The Director General of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Secretariat, Leonard Louma, has appealed to the Local Organising Committee (LOC) and the Government of Vanuatu to include all Melanesian communities in the region when it hosts the 7th Melanesian Arts and Culture Festival (MACFEST) in Port Vila this July.
Speaking at the soft launch, DG Louma said, “we have to be proud of our Melanesian heritage and we need to cut across colonial legacy boundaries and show the world that Melanesia extends from the west to the east”.
MACFEST is the flagship event of the MSG held every four years and this will be Vanuatu’s second time to host the Festival in Port Vila.
DG Louma referred to a conversation between MSG leaders recently, where they affirmed that Melanesians do not only inhabit the countries and members that make up the MSG, but that
Melanesian communities stretch from the west to the east.
“I am hoping that Vanuatu will continue to uphold the tradition of MACFEST by being inclusive and that we can expect MACFEST 2023 to be bigger, larger and more representative of the Melanesian communities across the region,” he stated.
DG Louma added that, like sports, arts and culture has a binding effect on our people “. Yet if we allow other things to play a role in the determination of who to invite and who not to, there is a real risk of diminishing MACFEST’s value and importance”.
“Our people should be allowed to witness and enjoy the full range and splendor of the Melanesian spectrum of cultural colours. The size and geographical scope of the Melanesian communities existent today must be allowed to be manifested at this Vanuatu MACFEST,” he remarked.
“It is times like this that Vanuatu emerges from the crowd to show leadership, as it has shown many times in the past, that it is a genuine leader in the MSG. Vanuatu punches well above its weight when it comes to the defence of what is Melanesian and Vanuatu should be proud of that record,” he said.
He mentioned the many instances where Vanuatu showed leadership including the Lakatoro Declaration which became a rallying point for MSG countries to support the notion of a nuclear-free Pacific and the re-enlistment of New Caledonia into the Special Committee on Decolonisation (C-24), among others. He said that again, it was on the insistence and concerted effort on the part of Vanuatu that the MSG countries joined hands behind this move.
These, he said are no small feats and he urged the Organising Committee for the 7th MACFEST to keep them in mind when deciding on who to invite to the 7th MACFEST.
“As Head of the Secretariat I urge you to keep the DNA of Vanuatu alive, to continue showing leadership and I am confident that Vanuatu will rise to the occasion,” he noted.
He further assured that the Secretariat is ready to assist the Organising Committee in any form of support including the provision of office space from which they can operate in the lead up to the event.
Source: MSG
