The Papuan Government is planning to build a cultural laboratory this year as a means to preserve its diverse culture, Antara state news agency reported.

Masmur Asso from the Papuan Culture and Tourism Agency said the province, which lies in the farthest east of Indonesia, is slowly losing the many different cultures it has due to infiltrations of foreign cultures.

“If no measures are taken to find the solution to the problem, the future generations will not be able to get to know Papuan culture,” he said.

One way to preserve Papuan culture, Masmur said, was to build a cultural laboratory, which will provide and keep all the data and information on the many cultures of Papua.

“[The laboratory] will serve as a center for research as well as a recreation spot for anyone wanting to know more of Papuan culture,” he added.

Masmur said it was important for future generation to know vastly varying languages and folklores in the Papuan culture.

“If the young generations are contaminated by foreign cultures, it is not impossible that someday the local languages and the folklores are forgotten and extinct,” he said.

Masmur hopes with the laboratory, the young Papuans will have more appreciation of their culture.

“Foreigners have been coming here to research our culture; it’s high time for the Papuans themselves to have more respect on their own culture,” he said.

TRADITIONS, TOURISM AND CONTEMPORARY CULTURE IN PAPUA
Traditional arts and material culture

While Papua is home to a wide variety of art traditions, only several iconic forms are well known outside their local regions. European explorers, administrators and collectors often returned from Papua with extensive collections of material culture. These early visitors, together with more recent arrivals, have profoundly affected the production of art and its place in the lives of many Papuans. While there is a significant collection of Papuan artefacts in the Museum Nasional in Jakarta (www.museumnasional.org), and very modest collections at the Museum Provinsi (Provincial Museum) in Waena/Jayapura (www.kebudayaan.depdiknas.go.id/BudayaOnline/SitusBcb/Museum/n_papua.htm and at the Museum Lokabudaya (the Anthropology Museum at Cenderawasih University in Abepura), the most comprehensive collections of Papuan art and material culture are held by several large museums in the Netherlands and a dispersed group of private collectors. The Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde (RMV, or National Museum of Ethnology) in Leiden, the Wereldmuseum (World Museum at www.wereldmuseum.rotterdam.nl) in Rotterdam and the Tropenmuseum of the Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen (the Museum of the Royal Institute for the Tropics, or KIT) in Amsterdam, hold the most significant institutional collections in Papuan art and material culture anywhere in the world. Unfortunately most of these objects are not on permanent exhibition, although many items in the National Museum of Ethnology collection may now be viewed online (www.rmv.nl). In 2003, the RMV opened an exhibition featuring recent and past material culture collections from the Kamoro region of southern Papua. Although "Papua Leeft" had a web presence in 2003, the only information that remains online about this exhibition appears to be references to the printed catalogue Kamoro Art: Tradition and Innovation in a New Guinea culture and news/reviews of the exhibition (such as www.westpapua.nl/2003_02/kamoro.html). Similarly, although the KIT hosted a small exhibition of photographs from the early Twentieth Century related to the Anglo-Dutch race to the tropical glaciers of Carstensz (Puncak Jaya), the exhibition catalogue Race to the Snow remains the only enduring web presence of this exhibition (purchase from KIT at www.kit.nl). *1 In 2007, the Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam will host a major pan-New Guinea exhibition, titled "The Power of Papua".

The Barbier-Muller Museum, Geneva also holds a significant collection of Papuan art, but the items in its collection are not accessible via the web (www.barbier-mueller.ch/genevefr.html). More modest collections are held in numerous other European museums, including the Castello D'Albertis in Genoa, Italy (IT: www.castellodalbertis.comune.genova.it) and the Museo delle Culture, in Lugano, Switzerland (www.mcl.lugano.ch). In North America, one of the most significant collections of Papuan art was collected for the Museum of Primitive Art in New York, which was consolidated into the holdings of the Metropolitan Museum of Art as The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection in the Department of Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas (www.metmuseum.org). Australian collections of Papuan artefacts can be found through Australian Museums and Galleries On-Line (http://amol.org.au). A significant (if uncertain) number of private collections of Papuan art exists outside Papua in Indonesia and abroad but few of these are well documented or widely publicised.

The best known Papuan art is the woodcarving of the Asmat people and in the past few decades most art development projects, art enthusiasts and dealers collecting in Papua have been drawn to this art form. While the Asmat region may have gained international notoriety in 1962 with the disappearance of Michael Rockefeller, it is the sustained support of the Crosier Catholic Missionaries (www.crosier.org) and the patronage of their former Bishop Alphonse Sowada which has been central to revival of Asmat art. In 1973 the Crosiers established the Asmat Museum of Culture and Progress at Agats and later the American Museum of Asmat Art (www.asmat.org). Asmat art is featured in several private collections which have a web presence, including that of long-term Asmat art collectors Ursula and Gunter Konrad (www.asmat.de) and the Equatorial Art Gallery website (www.asmatart.net or http://home.earthlink.net/~alkeeney). You can read about an art collector’s experience in Asmat (http://home.earthlink.net/~fchiaramonte/travel.htm).

Papua is rich in many artistic traditions other than those of the Asmat. There are many contemporary artists across the province producing fine works in a variety of media. Several of these artists have been featured in exhibitions by Seichi Okawa and their work can be found at the Graha Budaya Indonesia or Indonesian Cultural Plaza in Tokyo (www.harapan.co.jp/Indonesia/GBI/GBI_index.htm - you need an extended Japanese character set to see all of this site). The arts of Lake Sentani, which have been overlooked by so many visitors to nearby Jayapura, have also been gaining recent popularity among domestic and foreign visitors to Papua. Read about the painted barkcloth of the Sentani region in an article by anthropologist Michael Howard (www.artasiapacific.com/articles/maro/maro1.html with hotlinked footnotes). The internet has many other webpages about New Guinea tribal arts and art dealers (such as www.art-pacific.com/artifacts/nuguinea/asmat/asmatmap.htm). Sarinah, the exclusive Indonesian department store on Jalan Thamrin, was one of the first places to commercialise Asmat art in Jakarta (http://bubu.com/sarinah/asmat.htm) as part of their arts and crafts collection from across the archipelago.

Tourism, tours, transportation and travelogues

Papua's traditional arts are not the only attraction for tourists visiting to region. The diverse cultures and landscapes of Papua offer visitors a wide variety of experiences and there are many webpages related to tourism in the province. Here these web resources are simplified into three broad categories: general tourist information; commercial tours, travel agents, accommodation and travel practicalities; personal travelogues and photo essays. PATA or the Pacific Asian Travel Association (www.pata.org) and some other webpages work to promote tourism Papua and the region (www.travelgare.com/explore/IrianJaya). Other sites have pages which promote tourism in Papua, including: the Biak Tourism Office's website (www.infobiaknumfor.com), Petra Christian University in Surabaya (www.petra.ac.id/english/kti/irian/intro/index.htm or www.petra.ac.id/english/kti/tourism/index_irja.htm), the Indonesian Culture and Tourism Centre in Japan (www.indonesia-ctc.co.jp/Indonesia/FrameIrianJaya.htm), Archipela GoPapua (http://goarchi.com/archo/provinces/i-jaya/i-jayahome.html) and the Tourism Indonesia website (www.tourismindonesia.com).

Tour operators and travel agents have conducted group tours in Papua since it was opened to international tourism in the late 1980s. Commercial tourism operators host a range of sites with information about their various package tours to Papua. Examples of these businesses include: Papua Adventures (www.papua-adventures.com), Sawadee (NL: www.sawadee.nl), Hidden Cultures (www.hiddencultures.com), Arcadia Tours (www.arcadia.nl), Immersia Travel (www.immersiatravel.com/ng2.html), Hey Papua (www.hey-papua.de) and Indonesian tour companies like Limbunan (see www.eastindonesia.com/tour/irian or www.baliem.com). Some foreign tour operators with a history of travel in Papua also have detailed websites about Papua with details of tours and Papuan artefacts online (for example see www.irianjaya.de which is the same site as www.harald-melcher.de). You may find more tour operators and travel agents (even ones based in Papua) with a general web search. While tour operators and travel agencies can arrange all travel and accommodation arrangements for a trip to Papua, tourist who desire greater independence will find it useful to visit other sites on the web.

Transportation services are essential to the lives of most people living in the urban centres of Papua and every year better information about these services can be found online. This includes the websites provided by two major Indonesian passenger airlines Garuda (www.garuda-indonesia.com) and Merpati Airlines (www.merpati.co.id) as well as pages on the Departmen Perhubungan or Department of Transportation website with general schedules (www.dephub.go.id/irja/data/frek_pnrb.htm). PELNI (Pelayaran Nasional Indonesia), the National Passenger Ferry Service also has general information (www.pelni.com) and its schedules are online (see www.onklik.com/ontrip/index_kapal.php3). The only airport in Papua capable of landing a Boeing 747 (Jumbo Jet) is the Bandar Udara Frans Kaisiepo in Biak (E: www.angkasapura1.co.id/eng/location/biak.htm) although many of its coastal towns are well equipped for large passenger ferries and cargo ships, including the ports of: Jayapura, Biak, Manokwari, Fak-Fak, Sorong and Merauke (www.portina4.go.id/ports.htm shows a map of these towns linked to pages with data on these docks). Information about some local ferry services in Papua is available online through PT ASDP (Angkutan Sungai Danau dan Penyemberangan or the Inland Waterways and Ferry Transportation Corporation website (www.ferry-asdp.co.id).

Foreign visitors not arriving from other parts of Indonesia may be able to travel on the weekly charter flight operating between Timika and Darwin (Australia) as an alternative route to Papua (www.timikacharters.com.au). There is also a regular bus service (and irregular light aircraft flights) between Jayapura and Vanimo in neighbouring Papua New Guinea. For these international connections travellers must obtain appropriate visas (which can prove difficult). More detailed information for such travel is available from the Papua New Guinea Consul in Jayapura (refer to www.pngembassy.org/mission.htm), the Australian Embassy in Indonesia (www.austembjak.or.id), the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra (www.kbri-canberra.org.au) as well as the Indonesian travel agents listed above, Darwin-based travel agencies like Northern Gateway (www.northerngateway.com.au) or PNG-based tour companies like MTS (www.meltours.com/index.html).

Accommodation in Papua can range widely according to price and exclusivity. Some of the most expensive accommodation in Papua includes the Sheraton Hotel in the mining boom town of Timika (http://www.greathotels.co.id/contents/sheratontmk.html), the Honai Resort (www.baliem.com/html/honai.html) and Baliem Valley Resort (G/E: www.baliem-valley-resort.de) both near the central highlands town of Wamena and a number of high end hotels in bigger towns like Jayapura and Sorong (see sites like www.regit.com/regitel/indonesi/business/rianjaya/jayapura.htm). The more modest hotels and losmen in the coastal towns of Papua do not have much of a web presence. Information about these places and the opportunities to stay in traditional houses with local Papuans can be found in some of the travelogues listed below. Basic medical supplies may be purchased through local chemists in Jayapura which are listed in the Apotheek Jayapura webpage (ID: www.satumed.com/index.html/lain/37).

Travelogues are personal or group accounts of tourist's experiences in their travels which often contain interesting insights and practical advice on places, conditions, cultural difference (and "culture shock"). They may take the form of brief or lengthy trip narratives, photo-essays, web-logs (blogs, see section 1) or even become the inspiration for entire websites or film projects. Travelogues have been written about Papua for more than a century, but there are still few substantial texts (or essays) in this "adventure" or "explorer" genre available online.

Short travelogues about Papua available on the web may be general reviews of visits to Papua, like: Henry Richardson's trip report (www.geocities.com/hr1975/ij-report.htm); Liono Irian Jaya pages (www.emp.pdx.edu/htliono/irja.html), Susan's Trip (www.websurf.net.au/~susan/Irian.htm), Jean-Philippe Soules's story (www.caske2000.org/stories/irianjaya.htm), one of Martijn Maandag's many trips (NL: www.reisverslagen.net) or Herman Vellinga's recent visit and reminiscences (NL: http://home.planet.nl/~velli026). Blogs entries can become daily diaries for visitors to Papua (e.g. http://joergstrail.blogspot.com) while other pages may be very specific (including the detailed account of the villages of Tobati and Engros at www.cs.washington.edu/homes/weld/engros.html). The more familiar tourist destinations like the Baliem Valley, the Asmat and Korowai regions of the southern swamps and the Carstensz glaciers and Puncak Jaya have more webpages.

The Baliem Valley was first discovered in 1938 by Richard Archbold and his team during an expedition for the American Museum of Natural History in New York (www.american-mnh.org or see http://research.american-mnh.org/mammalogy/dla/index.html for information about visiting the Archbold Collection of photographs and documents related to this expedition). It returned to prominence during World War II with the crash of a US army C47 aircraft in the valley and the subsequent rescue of some of its passengers (www.thedropzone.org/pacific/walters.htm). Since then, the Baliem Valley has held a special attraction for "adventure" tourists and trekkers. See some of the online writings of recent visitors to this unique place in Daniel Weld's "Glimpse into the Stone Age" (www.cs.washington.edu/homes/weld/stone-age.html), Dave Hunter's Trek (www.ana.ed.ac.uk/anatomy/staff/HunterD/treks/iriantab.html) how Allan Miller spent his summer vacation (www.pedropoint.com/dani.htm) and other short travelogues about the Central Highlands of Papua (such as http://www-ah.wbmt.tudelft.nl/~jerry/jw2/IrianJaya/Baliem.html). For those tourists with a specific interest in climbing, or a desire for serious trekking, Papua has some of the most spectacular mountain ranges in the world.

Carstensz is home to the tropical glaciers which rest on Puncak Jaya, at an elevation of almost 5000 meters above sea level. Although known to local Papuans for millenia, this rare tropical glacier first became known to European geographers when it was seen from the Arafura sea by the Dutch explorer Jan Carstensz in the 17th Century. In the early 20th Century, several European expeditions vied to be the first to reach the summit of this remarkable peak (see www.xtreme.nl/land/beleving/index_lab210600.shtml). In October 2001, the Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen, or Tropen Instituut (Royal Tropical Institute at www.kit.nl) presented “Race to the Snow,” an exhibition of photographs from these earliest European expeditions to the summit of Carstensz (www.kit.nl/fotobureau/html/publicaties.asp). The Carstensz massif was studied extensively during the early 1970s by a group of researchers from Australia and their results are now available on PapuaWeb (see www.papuaweb.org/dlib/bk/hope1976/_sampul.html). A few of these researchers also have an article about the glaciers available online through the United States Geological Survey website (http://pubs.usgs.gov/prof/p1386h/indonesia/intoc.html).

Puncak Jaya (the current name for the Carstensz Massif) and its glaciers remains one of the primary tourist attractions in Papua. Puncak is the highest mountain on the island of New Guinea, the highest peak between between the Himalayas and the Andes and one of the "7 summits" of the world (see http://7summits.com). Climbing here requires a special permit from the Departmen Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata or the Department of Culture and Tourism in Jakarta (www.budpar.go.id). In recent years this trip has been offered as a commercial package tour for climbers lasting anything from 6-20 days (see www.alpineascents.com/carstensz.asp), and growing numbers of foreign climbers have used it to complete their "7 summits" (www.adventurestats.com/tables/7sum.htm). Other webpages about climbers' experiences on Puncak Jaya include: a flash animated website which features Carstensz (www.econ.nl), an article in Everestnews (www.everestnews.com/carstensz.htm), a photo essay at the Mountain Madness website (www.mountainmadness.com/gallery/carstenz/carstenz01.htm), a helicopter- assisted ascent (NL: www.demis.nl/poul/x11.htm). Other regions in the highlands are also spectacular and physically demanding to traverse. An extremely challenging expedition (unlikely to ever become a group tour) was proposed for the year 2000 by a team which planned to walk the entire length of the islands of New Guinea - 2400km over the central cordillera (mountain range) of New Guinea from Milne Bay, in the far east of Papua New Guinea, to the west coast of the Bird's Head of Papua (http://members.aol.com/prwiles).

Scuba diving tours and other coastal attractions remain a small but significant part of the Papuan tourism industry. Max Ammer runs a commercial scuba diving business in Sorong (www.iriandiving.com) which features the natural marine life of Papua and underwater exploration of old World War II wrecks (see www.iriandiving.com/Wreck-Diving.html and www.pacificwrecks.com/provinces/irian_biak.html). Many of these wrecks can be found in and around the island of Biak where tourism was being heavily promoted during the 1990s and featured the brand new Marauw (Biak Beach) Hotel (for example see www.jipi.com/inatourism/irian_jaya/index.php3?topik=resort). This hotel is featured in Kal Muller's article on diving in Biak (Muller has written one of the most popular foreign guidebooks to Papua) although it is no longer operational (see www.asiandiver.com/themagazine/indonesia/biak.html). Some other pages provide limited information about Biak and its adjacent islands (http://members.tripod.com/biak-island/welcome.htm). The attractions of Papua's natural environment are also featured in other accounts of diving (www.photocean.com/irianjaya.html) or you can explore the coastal areas of Papua and other parts of Indonesia aboard a chartered tour boat operated by companies like Divex Indonesia (www.divex-indonesia.de/start.htm).

Bird watching should be an extremely popular tourist activity in Papua given the wealth of its endemic species. While groups of ornithologists occasionally visit Papua, only a few operators such as Papua Expeditions (www.papuaexpeditions.com and ID: www.ekonexion.com) and Kris Tindige (www.earthfoot.org/places/id002.htm) run tours specifically for bird watching. If you are fortunate enough to visit Papua, there is a bird sanctuary on Biak Island close to Biak Town (on the main road to Bosnik) and also the new Biak Falcon and Raptors Conservation Center (http://users.belgacom.net/gc559907/intro.htm). The BFRCC is dedicated to the conservation of Papuan and Indonesian birdlife, including the rare Javan Hawk Eagle (which is the bird on the national emblem of the Republic of Indonesia).

Photographic essays are travelogues (like www.whereisevan.com/indonesia00-3.html) but they generally rely more on images than text in their representations. Online photo essays which feature Papua include Chris Ranier's "Where Masks Still Dance" (from his book www.time.com/time/reports/newguinea/home.html), Rob Huibers website (www.photo.nl), Kaj Maurins Papua slideshow (www.indonesiapromo.com/slidesho/irian/ss01.html), Ken Ratihn's photo gallery (www.pcweb.net/kss/irianjaya/index.htm), Jez O'Hare's site (www.jezohare.com), the Eric de Noorman website (http://users.pandora.be/e.rasker/Irian.html). Extensive photoessays can be found at Abentuer Indonesien (www.abenteuer-indonesien.de/iriangal1.html) and at www.photocean.com/irianjaya.html and the "crazy-man" plans to make a documentary film in Papua (www.crazy-man.org). Harald Melcher has already made a film in Papua which is available for purchase online (www.harald-melcher.de/index_dt.htm).

Contemporary Papuan culture

While domestic and foreign tourism in Papua flourishes on the perception of “primitive people” living in “remote” places, rapid urbanisation is creating new social, economic and political communities and activities in many towns across the province. Though some of these trends have been distinctly Papuan, others are formed by pan-Indonesian or global influences like Christianity (see the remarkable examples of syncretic Christian art in Papua at http://constellarti.nl/Papua/album/Papuachristianart/index.html). One of the earliest examples of this new fusion emerged in the early 1970s with the creation of Papuan String Band music by groups like Black List, Black Papas and the Black Brothers, who were hugely popular throughout Indonesia and the region (see www.chmsupersound.com/cds/cd_006.htm). The success of Papuan musicians and cultural groups continued in the 1980s with the regular performances of groups like Mambesak at the Museum Loka Budaya at the campus of Universitas Cenderawasih in Abepura until the group was forced to disband in 1984 following the murder of Arnold Ap and Edie Mofu, two of Mambesak's founding members. Much of the inspiration for these groups came from the rich oral traditions of many Papuan communities, especially accounts of their history and origins (read about the cultural hero Gurabesi at http://evergreentropicalstories.blogspot.com/2009/06/14-legendary-war-hero-from-biak.html).

Although there are a range of contemporary cultural forms in Papua they still have a limited presence on the World Wide Web. The 2003 Free West Papua Concert in Melbourne (see below) included the first international appearance of West Papuan group "Spirit of Mambesak" and gave the group an opportunity to record a CD of their music (see www.mana.com.au/blackparadise/the_group.htm). The regular appearance of cyber "mops" (Dutch for "joke") in Papuan newspapers, is another example of how residents of Papua are bringing their culture to the web (read some mops on the Papuana site Yaswarau (www.yaswarau.com/content/category/1/1/2, Infopapua www.infopapua.com and and the Indonesian humour website Ketawa.com http://ketawa.com/humor-lucu/cat/17/cerita_mop_dan_mob_papua.html). These also increasingly circulate among communities in Papua and abroad via other internet technologies (such as emails, newsgroups and weblogs).

Sport and youth groups. The importance of sport to many young people in Papua is reflected in the success of Papuan soccer teams in the Indonesian national league. Divisi Mandiri (www.sepak-bola.tv/teams/e_standing.sps), Divisi 1 (http://home.hetnet.nl/~persipura/persipura/pers_div1.htm) and Bola (www.bolanews.com) give information about the game in Indonesia and rankings across the archipelago. More information about the premier local soccer league Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Jayapura or Persipura can be found online (www.go.to/persipura). In other sports, Papuans have also achieved remarkable successes, despite often limited training facilities. Representatives from Papua have consistently performed well in competitions of the Southeast Asian regional martial art Pencak Silat (for more information about this sport see http://talio.homestead.com/History.html) and in the 2000 Olympic games Raema Lisa Rumbewas was awarded a silver medal in the 48kg class of women’s weightlifting (check her current ranking according to the "International Weightlifting Database" at www.iat.uni-leipzig.de/scripts/dbweight.exe?site=5&SpID=21000043). Such achievements strengthen local pride and team sports like soccer can provide important activities for Papuan youth groups (such as Yapikbi, or the Foundation for Biak Youth at http://rumsom.tripod.com) and local chapters of pramuka (scouting movement) while helping to bridge ethnic difference in many of Papua's cosmopolitan towns (for example www.wpu-fc.faithweb.com/main.html). Sport also features along with cultural activities in the lives of Papuans living abroad (see Olah Raga Papua (http://httpd.chello.nl/~r.kirihio for news on sport among the Papuan community in Holland).

Contemporary Papuan culture abroad. Papuan culture is also represented overseas through small and dispersed communities in exile in the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Australia and elsewhere. The Netherlands has the largest Papuan community abroad and some Dutch (for a variety of reasons) maintain relationships or sentimental attachment towards Papua communities and cultures. This is reflected in the range of Papuan cultural groups in Holland as well as the many Dutch civil society groups that support Papuan communities in Papua. Arnold Ap Stichting, or the Arnold Ap Foundation (www.geocities.com/arnoldapfoundation) is an example of a Papuan cultural organisation based in the Netherlands and is hosted on the Sandiki Papuan performing group homepage (www.geocities.com/sandiki_groep). Other Dutch-based Papuan cultural performance groups include Sampari Dansgroep (http://home.planet.nl/~papu/Sampari.htm and http://home.wanadoo.nl/sorong), Korwari Dansgroep (http://home.planet.nl/~papu/Korwari.htm) and the music of singer Edo Kondologit (www.home.zonnet.nl/pauldin/music/edo.htm) who also hosts the Pop Papua homepage for Papuan music (http://home.planet.nl/%7Elokho029/Pop_Papua.htm). More traditional music from Papua, such as "Wor" from Biak Island, has been released on the Smithsonian Institute "folkways" recording label (www.folkways.si.edu/40426.htm).

Contemporary Papuan fusions. Today Papuan cultures are influenced by and influence forms of cultural expression beyond the localised boundaries of Papuan towns and villages, or the activities of Papuans outside Papua. This effect is suggested by the relationship between Papuan culture and global tourism evident in some of the websites listed earlier (in the section on tourism). More conspicuous and deliberate cultural fusions are apparent in the works of various non-Papuan writers, visual artists and musicians. Fons Bloemen (http://home.hccnet.nl/f.bloemen/book/in.htm) has a webpage about "first contact" which features illustrations from the artist's book that incorporate text and images from three centuries of exploration along the SW coast of Papua. Roy Villevoye has been working with some intriguing themes among Papuans from the Asmat region (see www.fassbendergallery.com/pvisions/pvisions98d.html, visit the "art project" at the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde www.rmv.nl or read a summary of some of his work at www.jong-holland.nl/1-2001/summary1-2001.htm). Boris and Conny (www.typ.nl/B&C) is a "lifestyle journal" with poetic and philosophical reflections on Papua and Papuans written by Jan Dietvorst, another Dutch artist/ filmmaker who has spent significant time in the Asmat. Another artwork inspired by Papua and its people is Marjolein Kruijt's painting for a West Papua festival held in the Hague in 1999 (www.geocities.com/Marjolein_Kruijt/wallpaintings_project.htm). Ursula and Gunter Konrad, long-time Asmat Art collectors (see earlier section) are collaborating with German sculptor Vaago Weiland and other artists Christiane Behr, Detlev Ilgner and Ingo Wegerl in a "Trans Art Culture" project (www.asmat-art.com/tcp/austellung-04.htm) which juxtaposes traditional Asmat art and imagery with modern themes and materials. Other direct references to Papuan elements (particularly from Asmat) can be found in the work of Frank Herrmann (www.art.uc.edu/FUZZY/fac_herrmann.html) and Suzanne Tornquist (http://tornquist-art.com see the Indonesia page) and in the works of famous Indonesian artists such as Sunaryo (from the strongly nationalistic DECENTA group of the 1970s) to the mixed media work of younger Indonesian artists like H. Hardi. The power of Papuan artistic traditions is also acknowledged by other artists like Ade Agus Tirtayasa even though this influence is not always apparent in such works (www.palette.co.nz/images/gallery/adea/main.html.

More peripheral examples of cultural fusions with Papua include the "Koteka saxaphone" music of Richard Johnson in THE TANK (gourdophone - 1 - 2 - 3) and in the recent "Make it Now" and "NowNow" performances of experimental and spontaneous music (see www.thenownow.net), the use of Asmat motifs for exported commercial batik (www.bigonbatik.com/plus/housewares/tablecloths/oblong.html), jilbabs (http://adeela.industradegroup.com/jilbab_asmat.htm and the pseudo "primitive" style carvings from Bali that are often exported as authentic carvings from Papua (www.magiscraft.8m.com/prod03.htm. Other examples include the playful cartoon for the Dik Voor Mekaar Show record single (www.dedikvoormekaarshow.nl/pa-papoea.htm - visit here if you want to close your browser!), Toshi Kenzo Maidepa's "Papua Midi files" (simple electronic music at www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/bay/3507), and are suggested (but apparently not realised) in the appropriation of the name Irian Jaya by a couple of musicians based out of Glasgow (http://hspun.com/ij.asp). Clear examples of Papuan cultural influence fused with internet technologies can be found at the Papua Nieuwegein homepage (ID: http://home.planet.nl/~papu) with elaborate webpages that include images, video, and even games like "bunu yamuk" (kill the mosquito).
Recent and forthcoming Papuan cultural events
In February 2003, the "Morning Star Concert" was held in Melbourne. The event was organised by Australian Musician David Bridie and the website hosts photos from the concert. The concert was intended to promote greater awareness among Australians of Papua and Papuans and a number of popular Australian musicians and performers volunteered their time for the event (www.morningstarconcert.com). Linked to this concert was the production of "West Papua: Follow the Morning Star", a CD featuring remixes from old and recent recordings from West Papua, interpreted by a range of prominent Australian musicians (http://mana.iconsult.com.au/index.php/item/department/2/item/17.html. The Morning Star Concert also featured performances by Black Paradise and Pacific Groove (including many former members of the Black Brothers - see earlier section). Several other significant Papua related events have been held in Melbourne in the past few years, including Sanap Waintam 2002 and 2005. Learn more about Sanap Wantaim 2005 (stand up together), "an expose and critique of cultural and political life in West Papua" held in July at St Paul's Anglican Cathedral in Melbourne. Increasingly Papuans are travelling within Indonesia and abroad to promote their culture(s) across the nation and the world. In September 2005, Papuan performance groups Tam Tebu and Opako Kakuru from the Amungme and Kamoro regions will appear as part of the Bellingen Festival (a town in Australia between Sydney and Brisbane - see www.globalcarnival.com/html_2005/performersinfo.htm.)

THE WEST PAPUA PEOPLE

Speaking about West Papua Culture is a very difficult job, since they almost have no culture, every group, or every clique has their own specific behavior or customs that is not related, even between house to house. There are a great variation, of culture from those having slight relation from one to an other up to those having definitely no observable relation. Their relation is basically based on genealogy relation which is mostly also disordered. This is added again by the dozens of different languages spoken by each clique or group, as a real big stone block to understand the whole situation.

Among those there are some simple cultures already well known such as Baliem tribe, Dani tribe, Yali tribe, and Agat tribe. But almost all of them physically have the same characteristics. In the past most of them were living deep in inner land and on foot of mountain, some of them build their nest on the trees. With the unity of West Papua into Republic Indonesia, government have tried to persuade them to live a more settled manner with cultivated land, so some of them went down to the open areas and more cultivated areas, and adjust themselves to the new life which is pioneered by the migrant from other parts of Indonesia, such as around North coast, cities and centers of local governments.

The main factors of their low mentality which is not conducive for their development are their extreme primitive life and social system. But their primitive life is the main attraction for experts as well as tourists to visit West Papua. It is famous just because they are primitive, with their housing is also very simple in great harmony with the nature, as they still not wear cloth, as their chieftain corps is kept for years at home as a mummy, and their pig feast.

The people of West Papua shows a great variety of culture and languages, although physically the whole ethnics that live today look the same, that they show Melanosoid Characteristics. Seen from the variety of their culture the whole people of west Papua can be grouped very roughly based on the area such as ; Cendrawasih area, Cendrawasih beach and it's islands resident of North mangrove area, resident around Jaya Wijaya high land, people live on Savannah of South area. Among them some ethnic have been given the name and known well such as the Dani, The Agat and the Yali. The variation of their culture can be seen from their living or economy, art, and social system besides there are a great variation of language. In General the variation of language shows the group of Melanesian family and there are specific of West Papua languages which among West Papuan language itself showing a further great variation. The Melanesian language is part of a widely spoken language called Austronesian. This group of language is spoken on area from Madagascar to Paas island on Pacific ocean and to the north in bordered by Taiwan. An inventory of West Papua languages which are not grouped as Melanesian languages has been reported by faculty of Anthropology, University of Indonesia in 1963, edited by Prof. Koentjaraningrat and Harsja W. Bachtiar. The area of Cendrawasih Bay and along the northern shore of West Papua are known as the areas having various languages groups with small number of speakers, the member of a certain language group can be 100 persons or even less. This extreme variation can be traced back into prehistory when their time of migration from one place to their current resident. Since then a condition of isolated life among each others continues until the independence of Indonesia . Linguistic theory of isolation has been explaining about similarity of main words and development to further variation of most of the words. Even an Indian and linguist used a theory of geometry to estimate the time of a language start to break into different group by analyzing the basic 200 vocabulary. Along the northern coast of West Papua flow some rivers such as Woska, Tor, Bier, Biri, Wirowai, Toarim, and Semowai. The rivers originate from goutier mountain, Karamour, and Bonggo.

Multi various ethnic groups now living along the shore of West Papua originated from highland deep at the river sources. The started to migrated around 300 years ago, and some started 2 generations ago. The phenomena of moving from highland to the beach is still continuing. They built their settlements behind the sand beach on the marshy area. In 1920 there were around 24 settlements and relocated by force by the Dutch to settle on the beach with the health reason and control facility. For 24 settlements by language can be grouped into 7 languages which were belong to Melanesian group. During the period of observation between 1940 to 1963 the birth rate was very low with the migration of people to the town, the number of population on north shore had been decreasing their houses are built on wooden poles with total height around 4.5 meters, and 4x5 meters wide. A house consist of 2 or 1 rooms for sleeping, and another standing house for cooking the material for making house are wooden lodges, tied with rattan, wall mode of palm leaves, floor is made of mangrove skin, and roof is from palm leaves and branches of mangrove which is filed beautifully. In the phrases of constructing a house a big feast is needed, and exchange gifts for those who assist in the building is still a hard part of the process.

The main subsistence of the people on the north coast of West Papua is the Sagu (the essence of palm trees). Their sagu farm is the natural sagu forest located 4 to 5 kms deep inland. Each family do not have clear border of the farm where they have their own area or where is belong to others. Sagu tree with the age between 8 to 12 years is ready to be harvested. On the northern coast the work of harvesting sagu is both for men and women, while at the area of the river's source this is exclusively the work of women, while men are hunters and land cultivators. They hunt various animal such as mouse, pigs, casuary birds, kangaroo, snake, and lizards. Very small wish from them to cultivate land in more systematic way. They just plant in no good treatment among forest area, then leave the area untreated to open other places, the neglected land will not be taken over by other people although after long time the land get back it's fertility. This is probably the choice is still to big, and for them cultivating land is not interesting on not important. Coconut meal or copra is one product of Northern shore which was started in 1920 when Dutch government took the resident of Masimasi island as volunteer of growing coconut which resulted thousands of coconut trees decorated the shore. In the course of time this big plantation continuously degraded until 1962 it has been really in trouble and disappeared their kinship system is almost the same as other Indonesian society, with the smallest unit is family and their children an average of 4 person per family. Some family is a big family where the grandparents are living also in the same house. Their naming tradition got the influence of Dutch Christian so they used convert name beside family name which is taken from his/her father's name. Before the conversion into Christian the original kinship must had been exist proved by the terminology of "Auwet", within an auwet there were names showing the similarity. Most probable that this auwet kinship system was a patrilineal system. Marriage even also has introduced exchange gift as other Indonesian traditional ethnics, especially the family of the youth must give an exchange to the girl family. Feasts during social events are also known just like many traditional area of Indonesia. These auwets are said to have specialization such as the auwet of Bagre and Maban have members who were skilful in warfare. Auwet Kibuan and Abowei who lived on high dry land were skill in cultivating land. Each auwet had their big house on poles where the important and relic of the family were preserved such as flutes. During relocation in 1920 from the marshy area to the beach all their houses were burnt, and the tradition of auwet and their heritages become disappeared during registration by the teachers from Ambon, it was found that certain group bearing the similarity of name and this group was called "fam". The preparation of a youth to merry a girl is the collection of shell arranged into a decor of big shell called "krae" a necklace arranged from dog teeth, belt made of jewelry, and rope made of wood skin. In the present of imported goods which are sold by Chinese, they also collect plates, kitchen tools, foods, especially canned and others. All these material will be used in exchange to the girl. It is a big and hard thing to do, that is why a youth got aid from the brother of his mother in collecting this gift and often need a long time. This wealth is given to the family of the girl after the marriage ceremony is completed and followed by special feast. After this traditional feast there is one ceremony again in the church. According to the tradition a new wedding couple should build a new house, but this something that too hard, beside the cost of building also the feast that is needed is a hell. So in the fact to many new couple live verilocally (stay with husband family), yet some are living uxorilocally (with wife family) which actually uncommon among the society.

Social life on the whole villages of Northern coast is really very weak and like there is big aphatism among members. Government instruction for the maintenance of village environment, economic life and social are considered already completed when it have been announced. No further self initiative of better life. There is no leader arising among them. Most leaders that could mobilize them are ambonese, Chinese, and other people from central Indonesia who work there. This is indeed a great barrier to develop the society. They do not respond to the modernization planned by the government. This is indeed they will be very easy to be provocated by person or countries to insert their interest in West Papua.

Some United State Congress members that do not know about what development in West Papua used this situation of their moves, as if they are savages of the provocated West Papua resident. Besides that the separated groups that might descended from the same ancestor which numbers are quiet plenty now have always been prone of war. In the past the wars were so many, and after independence of Indonesia the army suppressed them not to play warefare, as the war always causing many deaths. Thier war system is that if 1 group lost 1 person, then the war will continue without end until their opponent also lost 1 persons. If the balance of lost is not reached than the war can be very severe. In 2006 and 2007 at least 5 wars happened again among those groups, and the army and the police of Indonesia did not suppressed them because they affraid of being blamed to put the local people under violation by some countries and persons who do not like Indonesia. If the balance of lost can be achieved that the peace gathering will be done by burning stones.

How do they live?

Papua is home to around 312 different tribes, including some uncontacted peoples. The central mountainous region of Papua is home to the highland peoples, who practice pig husbandry and sweet potato cultivation. The lowland peoples live in swampy and malarial coastal regions, and live by hunting the abundant game, and gathering.

Some of the many Papuan tribal languages are related to others, but some are completely unique. The people are ethnically distinct from the Indonesians who control their country.
What problems do they face?

All the Papuan peoples have suffered greatly under the Indonesian occupation which began in 1963. The Indonesian army has a long history of human rights violations against the Papuans, and the racist Indonesian soldiers generally view the Papuan people as little more than animals.

Papua’s natural resources are being exploited at great profit for the Indonesian government and foreign businesses, but at the expense of the Papuan peoples and their homelands.

When international companies come to Papua, the Indonesian military accompanies them to ‘protect’ the ‘vital projects’. The military presence is almost always associated with human rights violations such as killings, arbitrary arrests, rape and torture.

Those Papuans who protest against the Indonesian government, the military or ‘vital projects’ are even more likely to experience abuses of their human rights.
How can I help?


How does Survival help?

Survival is supporting the right of the Papuan peoples to live on their land in peace, by exposing, and protesting against, the human rights violations they experience, and by campaigning for their land ownership rights.

We support Papuan opposition to any harmful projects on their land, such as the pulp plant which Scott Paper planned to build on Auyu land – the plan was abandoned after international protests.

Survival is calling on the Indonesian government to enter into dialogue with the Papuan people so that they are able to decide their own way of life and their future.
News from the Papuan Tribes

1. Four critically ill after rallies and election protests in West Papua
9 April 2009
2. Buerk criticized after 'primitive' gaffe
25 February 2009
3. Papuan lawyer acquitted for text message 'insult'
13 February 2009
4. HIV/AIDS set to soar in West Papua
18 November 2008

The Human Resources Management (HRM) function includes a variety of activities, and key among them is deciding what staffing needs you have and whether to use independent contractors or hire employees to fill these needs, recruiting and training the best employees, ensuring they are high performers, dealing with performance issues, and ensuring your personnel and management practices conform to various regulations. Activities also include managing your approach to employee benefits and compensation, employee records and personnel policies. Usually small businesses (for-profit or nonprofit) have to carry out these activities themselves because they can't yet afford part- or full-time help. However, they should always ensure that employees have -- and are aware of -- personnel policies which conform to current regulations. These policies are often in the form of employee manuals, which all employees have.

Note that some people distinguish a difference between HRM (a major management activity) and HRD (Human Resource Development, a profession). Those people might include HRM in HRD, explaining that HRD includes the broader range of activities to develop personnel inside of organizations, e.g., career development, training, organization development, etc.

There is a long-standing argument about where HR-related functions should be organized into large organizations, eg, "should HR be in the Organization Development department or the other way around?"

The HRM function and HRD profession have undergone tremendous change over the past 20-30 years. Many years ago, large organizations looked to the "Personnel Department," mostly to manage the paperwork around hiring and paying people. More recently, organizations consider the "HR Department" as playing a major role in staffing, training and helping to manage people so that people and the organization are performing at maximum capability in a highly fulfilling manner.

Recently, the phrase "talent management" is being used to refer the activities to attract, develop and retain employees. Some people and organizations use the phrase to refer
especially to talented and/or high-potential employees. The phrase often is used interchangeably with the field of Human Resource Management -- although as the field of talent management matures, it's very likely there will be an increasing number of people who will strongly disagree about the interchange of these fields. For now, this Library uses the phrases interchangeably.

Definisi, Pengertian, Tugas & Fungsi Manajemen Sumber Daya Manusia / SDM - Ilmu Ekonomi Manajemen - Manajer MSDM

Manajemen sumber daya manusia adalah suatu proses menangani berbagai masalah pada ruang lingkup karyawan, pegawai, buruh, manajer dan tenaga kerja lainnya untuk dapat menunjang aktifitas organisasi atau perusahaan demi mencapai tujuan yang telah ditentukan. Bagian atau unit yang biasanya mengurusi sdm adalah departemen sumber daya manusia atau dalam bahasa inggris disebut HRD atau human resource department.

Menurut A.F. Stoner manajemen sumber daya manusia adalah suatu prosedur yang berkelanjutan yang bertujuan untuk memasok suatu organisasi atau perusahaan dengan orang-orang yang tepat untuk ditempatkan pada posisi dan jabatan yang tepat pada saat organisasi memerlukannya.

Departemen Sumber Daya Manusia Memiliki Peran, Fungsi, Tugas dan Tanggung Jawab :

1. Melakukan persiapan dan seleksi tenaga kerja / Preparation and selection

a. Persiapan
Dalam proses persiapan dilakukan perencanaan kebutuhan akan sumber daya manusia dengan menentukan berbagai pekerjaan yang mungkin timbul. Yang dapat dilakukan adalah dengan melakukan perkiraan / forecast akan pekerjaan yang lowong, jumlahnya, waktu, dan lain sebagainya.
Ada dua faktor yang perlu diperhatikan dalam melakukan persiapan, yaitu faktor internal seperti jumlah kebutuhan karyawan baru, struktur organisasi, departemen yang ada, dan lain-lain. Faktor eksternal seperti hukum ketenagakerjaan, kondisi pasa tenaga kerja, dan lain sebagainya.

b. Rekrutmen tenaga kerja / Recruitment
Rekrutmen adalah suatu proses untuk mencari calon atau kandidat pegawai, karyawan, buruh, manajer, atau tenaga kerja baru untuk memenuhi kebutuhan sdm oraganisasi atau perusahaan. Dalam tahapan ini diperluka analisis jabatan yang ada untuk membuat deskripsi pekerjaan / job description dan juga spesifikasi pekerjaan / job specification.

c. Seleksi tenaga kerja / Selection
Seleksi tenaga kerja adalah suatu proses menemukan tenaga kerja yang tepat dari sekian banyak kandidat atau calon yang ada. Tahap awal yang perlu dilakukan setelah menerima berkas lamaran adalah melihat daftar riwayat hidup / cv / curriculum vittae milik pelamar. Kemudian dari cv pelamar dilakukan penyortiran antara pelamar yang akan dipanggil dengan yang gagal memenuhi standar suatu pekerjaan. Lalu berikutnya adalah memanggil kandidat terpilih untuk dilakukan ujian test tertulis, wawancara kerja / interview dan proses seleksi lainnya.

2. Pengembangan dan evaluasi karyawan / Development and evaluation

Tenaga kerja yang bekerja pada organisasi atau perusahaan harus menguasai pekerjaan yang menjadi tugas dan tanggungjawabnya. Untuk itu diperlukan suatu pembekalan agar tenaga kerja yang ada dapat lebih menguasai dan ahli di bidangnya masing-masing serta meningkatkan kinerja yang ada. Dengan begitu proses pengembangan dan evaluasi karyawan menjadi sangat penting mulai dari karyawan pada tingkat rendah maupun yang tinggi.

3. Memberikan kompensasi dan proteksi pada pegawai / Compensation and protection

kompensasi adalah imbalan atas kontribusi kerja pegawai secara teratur dari organisasi atau perusahaan. Kompensasi yang tepat sangat penting dan disesuaikan dengan kondisi pasar tenaga kerja yang ada pada lingkungan eksternal. Kompensasi yang tidak sesuai dengan kondisi yang ada dapat menyebabkan masalah ketenaga kerjaan di kemudian hari atau pun dapat menimbulkan kerugian pada organisasi atau perusahaan. Proteksi juga perlu diberikan kepada pekerja agar dapat melaksanakan pekerjaannya dengan tenang sehingga kinerja dan kontribusi perkerja tersebut dapat tetap maksimal dari waktu ke waktu. Kompensasi atau imbalan yang diberikan bermacam-macam jenisnya yang telah diterangkan pada artikel lain pada situs organisasi.org ini.