Sustaining Musical Ecosystems of the Pacific: Reframing the Climate Change Dilemma

Abstract

Pacific nations first voiced concerns about being in the environmental firing line in the late 1980’s and the threat of rising waters has coined the term climate refugee. For Pacific Island leaders the message is clear, mitigating the future impacts of climate change should be industrial society’s highest priority. The notion that we need to save the disappearing islands has illuminated other issues. The loss of traditional practices, symbiotic relationships with the environment and a communal existence are a real risk. One of these vulnerable island states is Tuvalu. This chapter describes the implementation of the Tuvalu: Pacific Project, a research collaboration made up of indigenous creative artists from three partner institutions. The project illuminated the challenges of establishing and sustaining research partnerships within the current fluid tertiary sector, presents an example of indigenous researchers researching “other” indigenous populations and finally it describes a significant research outcome, a joint music conservation project with Tuvalu Media Corporation. At the core of the project was a research procedure designed to diminish an eco-colonial gaze by enveloping the whole process in the Māori concept of whanaungatanga.