Traditional pottery-making forms a vital part of much of the Pacific’s deep and rich cultural history. Yet it is one of the least visible and most vulnerable material knowledge systems in the region today. In Solomon Islands, popularly known for its shell-money making, panpipe music, basketry and carvings, pottery-making is survived by a small number of women in the village of Sirovanga (Chirovanga), located in northwest Lauru (Choiseul), one of the country’s nine provinces. Sereke pua (meaning ‘pot made from ground’ in Varisi, one of Lauru’s eight indigenous languages) is poorly documented, and the potters currently have no sustainable economic incentives and limited local governmental support to practice and preserve their kastom (‘traditional practice’).
This project aims to improve the documentation of sereke pua using audio-visual recording of pottery manufacture, cooking and use, qualitative interviews with potters and community leaders (using tok stori – a Melanesian research methodology), photogrammetry and archaeological mapping techniques (e.g. surveying and recording old village sites to assess spatial and temporal patterns of precolonial village pottery production). Led by and for Solomon Islanders, an important outcome of the project will be the co-designing of initiatives and ways of supporting the Sirovanga community to improve the preservation and public recognition of the nation’s last surviving pottery-making tradition.
PI: Charles James Tekarawa Radclyffe
Collaborator: Edgar John Maeniuta Pollard
Research Location: Sirovanga (Chirovanga), Lauru (Choiseul Province), Solomon Islands
Host Institution: Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka | University of Otago
Top Banner Image: Project lead (middle in blue) pictured with potters and community members from Aro Aro in Sirovanga, Lauru during his initial short visit in January 2024. Photo credit: Charles Radclyffe, 2024.