A Life committed to Papua New Guinea / New Guinea Communications, Volume 8 (PDF)

THE BOOK
The 23 March 2018 issue of the Weekend Courier (PNG) pays tribute to Chris Owen in the following terms: "I do not know of one other culture whose children will inherit a film heritage such as the one Chris Owen has given to the people of Papua New Guinea."

Pascale Bonnemère has transcribed a series of long conversations she had with Chris Owen, between 2013 and 2017, which paint a vivid picture of the life and work of this dedicated author of the most famous films on the country (e.g. The Red Bowmen, Man without Pigs, Tukana and Bridewealth for a Goddess). Completed by contextual information and photographs from his archives, the present volume constitutes a valuable testimony on a key period in the history of Papua New Guinea as experienced by a committed left-wing expatriate who spent almost 40 years of his life there and became a child of the country.


THE SERIES
The aim is to provide a conduit for the publication of studies on the Island of New Guinea, with its two established political divisions, but will also include other associated patterns of islands.
It will enable contributions from new knowledge workers-with their dissertations-and from established scholars. As there are numerous scholars who would like better coverage of the areas in which they have explored-as a tribute to the people they have worked with-as well as local scholars who understand the importance of their unique areas. It is felt that the approaches being trialed in the visual anthropology part of the series as area studies will bring a wider attention to the remarkable nature of the island.
The first volumes will be on modes of communication: oral history and folklore, and the emergence of a local literature. While the representation of all disciplines is welcome, comparative and whole island studies would be of great interest as well. For this, collaborative works or edited volumes may be needed.
It will allow for academic publications of a more preliminary kind-rather than exhaustive monographs, which are becoming more and more impossible to produce.
Where is the knowledge we have lost?