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Air Tahiti Magazine 59
destination ua pou at the heart of the marquesan cultural renaissance a mong the islands of the marquesas archipelago, ua pou has, without a doubt, been one of the most central points of the marquesan cultural renaissance which began in the early eighties. also, in 1987 ua pou hosted the first marquesan arts festival, an event that strongly contributed to the cultural movement and has since become its principal symbol. every four years on one of the four of the marquesas most populated islands, the festival brings together delegations from around the archipelago but also from other islands in the polynesian triangle such as hawaii, new zealand and easter island. with over 1,800 participants, the marquesan arts festival has become one of the most reputed festivals in the south pacific. participants as well as visitors are lucky spectators to a whole range of cultural activities such as dances, singing and sports. returning to its roots 20 years after the first festival, ua pou once again hosted the festival in december 2007. the association te motu haka ote henua enana (meaning the gathering of the marquesan people to uphold their culture) is at the heart of the festival. the association was created on december 31, 1978 by georges teikiehuupoko (aka toti ), who was a teacher on ua pou. to understand the significance of the creation of this group, think about the fact that up to 1870 all forms of cultural expression were, purely and simply, prohibited by the missionaries. marquesan language, tattoos, dance and even perfume were forbidden. this period of colonization, when the marquesans were pushed to adopt the ©tim-mckenna.com the marquesan arts festival 2007 in ua pou. 24 revue de bord n°59 / air tahiti / on-board magazine n°59
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