Bilum

Dr. Bowman said that over the years the bilum industry has remarkably transformed. Bilums have been seen on magazine covers, on the runway and even on the red carpet in Hollywood.

She encouraged the women to use social platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to market their products and as reference for new fashion and colors, to suit every season.

The partnership was formed to help the weavers of remote Mt Bosavi in Southern Highlands sell their bilums in the lead up to Mother’s Day, which will fall on May 9^th.

Alex finds a market space for the weavers so that their bilums can be sold however, due to the COVID-19 restrictions, her usual retailers were closed.

“I couldn’t rent shelves to sell the bilums. The bilums that used to sell very quickly sat there for 6 months,” she stated.

This traditional product is among other Pacific Island cultures displayed at what is considered the biggest celebration of Pacific Island culture and heritage in the world.

The presence of the Bilum products was made possible by Pacific Trade & Invest (PT&I) NZ through its Pacific Path to Market programme.

It is a structured approach to helping businesses entering the New Zealand market.

It is a two day event which will stretch through the weekend from March 25 to 26.

This two week exhibition is one that introduces a wide range of contemporary and traditional Pacific Island works of art to an Australian audience of consumers, designers, retailers and importers.

Florence is a long time participant, who started since the establishment of the exhibition in 2011 by Pacific Islands Trade and Invest (PTI).

The exhibition has been held yearly for the last six years, giving Florence the opportunity to feature her contemporary bilum work.

This year is no different and has been a very busy two weeks for the bilum meri.

Alex Resture, Seluka Resture  and Isopo Sokomani said they chose  to buy a Highlands string bag known as a bilum in Papua New Guinea pidgin among others to take home to show to their relatives.

Resture said the string bag cost them K80 to buy from a crafts trader from Enga.

The three athletes who are members of their country's tennis ball team in the  SP Games also described Port Moresby as "a giant city in the Pacific" besides Australia and New Zealand with world standard sports facilities that are capable of hosting the Commonwealth Games.