ABSTRACT
My first encounter with members of the PNG elite took place in Port Moresby, in connection with the making of a documentary for Swedish television. 1 In 1980, I stayed for six months at the National Arts School in Port Moresby, studying the formation of a ‘unique Papua New Guinean culture’ (NAS n.d.:l). I lived in a spacious bungalow, however, among European staff who considered it inappropriate for me to be in too close contact with indigenous staff or students. Europeans lived in comfortable bungalows and enjoyed overseas salaries, whereas traditional artists and national staff members, who typically worked as assistants, lived with their families in stuffy quarters, some of them even in the tiny student rooms.
