30 March 2009

Celebration of International Communities at Palmerston North Festival of Cultures 2009

By Shirley Ghozalli. Edited by Neil Hawes and Moira Blake.

"Polynesian Mamma" dancing along to the music from the stage. (Artists: Bridgette and Jim Murphy from 'Junk and Disorderly')

The Festival of Cultures 2009 opened on 21st March with the World Food, Craft and Music Fair in the City Square, Palmerston North. The sky was clear for the start at 10.00 am, and it stayed fine well into the afternoon, ensuring a constant flow of visitors. The crowds were entertained by performers on the stage showcasing the dances and music of their countries. They presented the cultures and people from some of the over one hundred countries represented in the Palmerston North community, such as Latin America, Indonesia, Samoa, India, China, Thailand, and also New Zealand.

In addition to the performances on the stage, there were two giant puppets moving about amongst the crowd, a "Chinese Dancing Lady" and a "Polynesian Mamma". They were the creations of local artists Bridgette and Jim Murphy of Junk & Disorderly, Community Arts Palmerston North. According to Jim, the puppets were made using recycled materials such as willow branches, paper, and products left over from sporting goods manufacture. Both of the puppets took 2 workshop days to finish with help from children and the Ethnic Centre's Polynesian and Chinese communities.

As they have done every year, IPC students joined in the celebration. Students from Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia performed and/or sold food and drinks they had prepared at their stall in the Square.

The Vietnamese students and past IPC graduates operated a food stall selling fish balls, vege balls and their well-known Vietnamese spring rolls. Hanh Thi Hong Nguyen (a 2008 student from Vietnam) said "We sold almost all the food and probably could have sold more if we had had time to make more spring rolls."

Members of the Thai Students Association, some of whom are IPC students and graduates, performed Thai traditional martial art and dances, as well as running a game stall that attracted many children. Five fighters showed their skills by doing several mock up fights and eight dancers presented 3 dances from the Northern and Southern regions of Thailand. Jidlada Lertprasittiphon (a 2008 student from Thailand), who was in charge of managing the Thai stall and writing Thai names for the visitors, commented "The event was great and the weather was excellent even though it was cold in the morning. I really enjoyed it and it was so much fun."

Indonesia was represented by members of the Indonesian Students Association, which includes IPC students, and IPC graduates from Indonesia. They performed a traditional dance from Aceh, "Tari Saman", which is also known as the "Thousand Hands Dance". Involving 21 dancers, it took a month to perfect the movements. They also operated a food stall selling their famous chicken satay along with lumpia, bakwan and drinks. "Because I was operating the stall for most of the time, I was unable to see more of the festival. However it was a pleasure to be part of it," commented Indah Mutiara Sari Adrianus (a 2008 student from Indonesia). Ronald Atmadja (a 2007 student) said, "This is my last year (at IPC) and I will miss this experience."

"'The Festival of Cultures' gives us many opportunities to have a look at performances from many different countries. It is also a great time for us to show our cultural dances and to be ambassadors of our country," Vania Hermanto (a 2008 student) said.

The festival ends with Ethkick09, the 7-aside ethnic football tournament, involving teams from ethnic communities on 28th and 29th March at Skoglund Park.

The crowds at the festival	A performance by members of the Thai Student Association	Dancers from the Thai Student Association
The "Tari Saman" performance by members of the Indonesian Student Association	Indonesian Ambassador, H.E. Mr. Amris Hassan and Mrs. Afi Hassan with the Saman dancers (Photographer: Waraqah Handayani)	Indonesian students wearing Balinese dance costumes
The Indonesian Student Association food stall	The Vietnamese food stall	The Thai Student Association stall with their games for children

<Back  |  ^Top