Ben Bohane

THE BLACK ISLANDS – Spirit and War in Melanesia

To the north of Australia lie "the black islands" - an archipelago of Melanesian nations from Timor to Fiji that in recent years has come to be known as the "arc of instability". Our notions of these islands have changed in recent years from naive Club Med visages to one of trepidation and even fear as conflict has taken hold in some of these otherwise shimmering and beautiful places.

For the past decade I have journeyed through these islands to find the spirit worlds local people inhabit, so as to better understand their circumstances and ours. It has been a journey through kastom, cultism and conflict in what remains the most under-reported region in the world. Yet the Pacific is growing in strategic significance as a new cold war unfolds between the US and China for control of the Pacific Rim, and Australian troops find themselves increasingly drawn in. Only by taking off our secular goggles and immersing ourselves in the spirit world of our near neighbours can we hope to have a basic understanding of this vast, lyrical region and our own place within it.

BEN BOHANE
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