11.35 Opening of the Independence Day ceremonies: A man in a neo-traditional costume raises the Papua New Guinea flag, with school children lined up behind |
11.36 Opening of the Independence Day ceremonies: A man and woman in neo-traditional dress hold a sign for their group, with a man in a white T-shirt between them. The words on the man’s T-shirt read: "Compulsive, Antisocial, Manic Depressive, Paranoid, but Basically Happy" |
11.37 Independence Day “dramas,” 1998: men dressed in traditional costumes begin a skit that makes fun of traditional customs |
11.38 Man dressed in a traditional costume plays in a skit that makes fun of chopping with a stone axe. Independence Day "dramas," 1998. |
11.39 Men from Gasumi Corners enact a farce of a traditional sorcery inquest: Damywa, who plays the spirit medium, leans over the "dead man," Mata, who has a large fake phallus and testicles strapped to his waist. |
11.40 Men from Gasumi Corners enact a farce of a traditional sorcery inquest: Kawuk (left) is tied to a stake by his inquisitioners |
11.44 Modern skit at Independence Day of a boy in rags (right) who seeks work in town from an overweight wealthy employer (left). The employer pays the boy a few small coins from his case full of money. In the skit, the youth steals the satchel of money and the employer then shoots his own security guards dead for not preventing the theft. The skit portrays the modern tensions of menial wage labor, envy, and violent response by employers. | |
