26 A celebration of Melanesian arts and culture in Vanuatu
Bush nuts rattle around the ankles of the men from Papua New Guinea's West New Britain province as they move across the field to the beat of wooden drums. Wide-eyed children sit cross-legged on the grassy slope watching the dancers, dressed in colourfully dyed grass skirts, elaborate feather headdresses and shell necklaces, with the flags of South Pacific nations fluttering in the breeze behind them. Once the performance is over, the Huli wigmen take to the stage, their faces painted bright yellow, with a hornbill beak on their back to symbolise strength and courage and a dangling pigtail belt designed to attract women. It's an extraordinary privilege to see dances often only performed in remote villages in PNG, West Papua, Vanuatu, Fiji,
