PROJECTS
Community projects are central to the mission of the Wantok Musik Foundation. Collaborating with local custodians and cultural keepers, these initiatives capture richness of First Nations, Pacific and Southeast Asian peoples through song, ritual, and performance, leading sustainable and positive outcomes for the community. Through involvement in community events and technical skill development, Wantok actively revitalises, highlights, and promotes this diverse region to a global audience.
SAYES ARARES
Sayes Arares is a poetic multichannel visual and sonic documentary that takes the audience deep into the Middle Sepik region of Papua New Guinea. On this journey we hear the Sayes Arares songs: a unique sound and tumbuna (ancestral) belief system held and told in the playing of the mambu (bamboo) flutes.
Extending on a creative relationship that has spanned over 30 years, Sayes Arares is a collaborative project by musicians Gaius Wapi, Pius Wasi, Joachim Mamambi, and David Bridie, with video artist K. Verell and the many cultural artists from Changriman Village, Chambri Lakes.
Click here for more information.
Sayes Arares was exhibited at Monash University, September 2025.
LEK MAK
Lek Mak is a music and culture project facilitated by Wantok Musik Foundation that celebrates the cultural depth and significance of Bougainville in the context of its transition to nationhood.
Through a meaningful cultural exchange, the Wantok team will support practitioners of local musical styles such as Kaur, bamboo bands, metal bands, stringbands and Lotu music to produce an album that celebrates the unique cultural identity of Bougainville, released in 2025.
The project is deeply grounded in place, culture, history and language.
Lek Mak was made possible with support from Office for the Arts and the Australian High Commission, with special thanks to Bougainville Partnership.
For information on other recent projects in Bougainville:
HAMORIS LIAN TIMOR
Hamoris Lian Timor (Reviving the Sound of Timor) showcases the songs, music, dances, and stories of Timor Leste. From the soaring mountains of Maubisse and Letefoho to Balibo, Dare, and the coastal city of Dili, the initiative captures the rich cultural tapestry of Timor Leste.
Our mission is to preserve ancient traditions, share the poignant stories of women who endured the long struggle for independence, and celebrate the uplifting melodies of songs about life, love, and challenges, the unique beauty of Timor's music and culture. This project is led by individuals with deep familial and cultural ties to Timor Leste and is bolstered by the Wantok Musik Foundation’s strong and enduring connections with the artistic community there. It builds upon a collaboration called Maubere Timor, which focused on recording, releasing, and performing significant historical resistance songs by Timorese veterans.
In August 2025, selected musicians from the Hamoris Lian project toured Australia with live performances in Victoria and Darwin, marking a first international experience for many. Artists also performed a concert in Dili, Timor-Leste in October 2025.
This endeavour is supported by funding from Office for the Arts and Creative Victoria.
The next phase of Hamoris Lian Timor is a women's project, Feto Nia Lian, Feto Nia Istória (Her Voice, Her Story); a two-week audio-visual recording residency in Dili, supported by Office for the Arts. A new album and short documentary is planned for release in 2026.
OL SING BLONG PLANTESEN
Ol Sing Blong Plantesen, plantation songs, brings to light the fascinating and creative tradition of Salvesen, a song and dance form that emerged from the sorrowful and alienating years of South Sea Islanders' indentured labor in the cane fields of Queensland from the 1860s to the turn of the century.
This release highlights the exuberant a cappella singing of Pacific Islanders and offers a glimpse into the surprising reach of African American spirituals in the late nineteenth century.
Salvesen is the only known creative form to survive from the labor trade years and is still performed today in the central islands of Vanuatu. It combines African American spirituals and gospel hymns with a Vanuatu customary circular dance. Accompanied by a limited edition, extensively researched and richly illustrated book documenting the history of the music, Ol Sing Blong Plantesen is a testimony to the South Sea Islanders' capacity for turning sorrow into a lasting expression of joy.
