INVOLVING women in our traditional music is fundamental as it is a positive step in the right direction for them to keep up with our unique cultural chants as well as our traditions.
With the inaugural Panpipe music festival hosted in the capital last month, there is none other than Kavachi Bamboo Band representing Western Province.
Formed way back in the 80s, Kavachi Band was originated from Marovo lagoon in the Western Province.
This group creates music by composing songs, singing them to the beat of their played bamboos tied together to produce a combination of melodious tunes from different pieces of bamboos all in different length tied together which create a feet – shaking music.
Speaking to Solomon Women Newspaper, the leader of the group, Loretta Rembi who was also a founding member of the group said the group has been left dormant for years not until ten years ago.
In 2007, Mrs Rembi attended the Festival of Pacific Arts in American Samoa when she realize how important it is to involve in such activities, and upon her returned into the country, the idea of reviving the Band hits her hard that she had no other option but to revived the band.
Few women showed their interest in the group and the number increased steadily not until last year where 33 women have booked their space in the group.
The 32 women also took part at this year’s panpipe festival held in Honiara.
“Some women might not want or are ashamed of showcasing their cultures and traditions, but that is not a right thing.
“It is better we expose ourselves and showcase our uniqueness and ourselves and also to remind ourselves about how our ancestors’ and their way of life,” Mrs. Rembi told this paper.
Whilst, participating in the recent National Pan Pipe Festival, Mrs. Rembi said that she felt very special because there are other traditional groups in Western province that she thought who are fit to participate in the event but the Culture Division of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism have chosen them to come along and showcase their talents by participating in the event.
She said she was happy and excited that she had got the chance to expose to the public what she and her group had been working on since the group existed.
Apart from the tunes, Kavachi Group also into showcased their traditional art and craft skills and knowledge by weaving traditional bags and other crafts using traditional materials that they also displayed for sell at the event.
When asked about how and why they named the group ‘Kavachi’, Mrs. Rembi said that they named it after an underwater active volcano located outside Marovo lagoon in the Western province.
This is because at times when the sea is fine, the submarine volcano usually remained underwater and unseen from the shore but became visible when it erupts, creating mountain like picture with its fumes above the sea level and across the horizon.
Kavachi is one of the most active submarine volcanoes located south of Vangunu Islands and is named after a sea god of the New Georgia Group islanders and is also referred to as Rejo te Kavachi.
The volcano has become emergent and then been eroded back into the sea at least eight times since its first eruptions in 1939.
