BY PETER KRANZ

I AM INTERESTED in some of the creative arts initiatives that blossomed in PNG after independence, and there were many of them.

They included the Arts Faculty at the University of PNG, so strongly influenced by Ulli Beier (after whom the creative arts complex at UPNG is named), the National Museum, National Archives, the Raun Raun Theatre, the National Cultural Council, and the National Broadcasting Corporation.

They attracted some leading figures in the world of creative arts, in music, painting, theatre, dance and sound recording.

So what happened to the vision of these ground-breaking institutions? Here's information on some of them. Readers may br able to assist with others.

Maggi Sietsma AM (born 1951) is the founding artistic director of the multiple-award winning Brisbane contemporary dance company, the Expressions Dance Company, and is regarded as one of Australia's leading choreographers.

Maggi has choreographed multiple international dance works during her career and has contributed extensively to dance and dance education in Australia. She was affiliated with the Raun Raun Theatre Company, PNG and performed with them many times.

The Life Drama Research Team (QUT) and the Life Drama participants are engaged in practice-led research, as they collaboratively create, test, and report on new forms of educational drama.

Practice-led research requires that the researchers first practice, and then rigorously investigate their practice. The results of this investigation are shared, not only through conventional text reporting, but through further practice which is documented through digital photography, video and sound recording.

A specific example of practice-led research is the two-week Theatre Exchange Laboratory held in Madang in January-February 2010. Practice included the performance of traditional songs and dances by ex-members of Raun Raun Theatre and current members of the National Performing Arts Troupe; excerpts from “folk operas” and “village plays“devised by Raun Raun Theatre and performed by members; and examples of Life Drama forms.

The Raun Raun Theatre came into existence in 1975 at the suggestion of Professor Ulli Beier from the Institute of PNG Studies. The project architects were Paul Frame and Rex Addison.

"In early April, 1975, the Raun Raun Traveling Theatre was formed in Goroka with a grant from the National Cultural Council. A theatre truck was purchased with some help from the Goroka Rotary Club and housing was granted by District Authorities to accommodate drama students on the one hand and director/office on the other.

“The Theatre’s original function was to travel with maket raun, a suggested scheme for taking public services, private sector activities and entertainment to a circuit of large village centres around the area."

Greg Murphy was the Director of Raun Raun Theatre and there was a close working relationship between the School of Art and Design at Goroka Technical College and his company. I believe Greg still works at the Madang centre or UPNG, but the Raun Raun has gone into something of a decline.

There is a new generation of PNG creative artists who have made their name in the field of music (check out my cousin-sis-in law Emi Maria!), but the older vision of an inclusive artistic impetus for a new country seems to have fallen by the wayside.