ABSTRACT
Climate change is a phenomenon that affects every community in the world. It is a topic that is widely discussed within top-level politics right down to community level, and through nongovernmental organizations. One such organization is the Pacific Island Museum Association (PIMA). PIMA is strongly aware that climate change affects indigenous communities in the Pacific and therefore has taken practical steps to lead in facilitating discussions on the subject with Pacific youth, as well as supporting individual Pacific museums to proactively engage in promoting climate change as a community topic of discussion and action. This interlude aims to highlight three (3) case studies that PIMA was involved in, in relation to the topic of climate change. The first one is the Pacific Heritage and Youth workshop that took place in Honiara, Solomon Islands in 2012 during the 11th Festival of Pacific Arts (FOPA). The second project involved the National Museum of Samoa’s collaboration with the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The third and most recent project was PIMA’s involvement in the Melanesian symposium, which was part of the 5th Melanesian Festival of Arts (MAF) in Port Moresby. This symposium had a session on “Climate Change and its Effects on Art and Culture,” and included how the Solomon Island National Museum (SINM) was involved in research and information dissemination.
