Developing Komplex Missi in Manokwari as Art Palace

The title of this post sounds ambitious but it is reasonable given the cultural assets and the natural and human resources that Manokwari city has. For instance, every year between 4 and 6 February, tens of thousands of people gather along the main streets of this city to participate and to see art and cultural performance at Cultural Carnival. During this occasion, everybody becomes artist. Art creativity of Papuan artists is expressed in various ways along the streets of Manokwari for free during this Gospel Landing Day. I was talking with Lucky Kaikatui, a prominent painter in Manokwari. He has been painting since he was a little boy. We discussed the possibilites of developing the komplex Missi of Manokwari as a hub for art lovers and artists. Here in komplex Missi, Papuan artists live and produce their artworks. Some are painters, carvers, cloth weaver, and singers. Behind our komplex Missi is the protected rainforest of Gunung Meja (Table Mountain) which is now a favorite tourist destination among nature lovers.

To realize this ambitious plan, we are going to hold a meeting for Papuan artists in Manokwari and discuss about what it takes to be an art center. Komplex Missi will be a place where people come to learn art, to express their art inspirations and to appreciate the art that is displayed in the form of painting, carvings, dancing, singing, and various other forms of art

I don't know how much time do we need to realize our dream. For me, Lucky, Paul and other Papuan artists in Komplex Missi, as well as other artists in this town, the making of Manokwari is the hub for art activities is an interesting challenge. We will do our best. Our works will include creating more artworks, conducting art education to young artists and promoting our art through newspaper, magazines, and the internet. I can only say that this dream will take its long journey starting from today. by Charles Roring

A Visit to Raimuti island in Manokwari Papua

Last January three Russian tourists visited Raimuti island. It is the smallest island in the Dorey bay of Manokwari Papua. These Russian tourists were Mikhail, Dima and Inga. They spent two weeks hiking around the Table Mountain, the Mansinam island, and then snorkling and fishing in the Raimuti island.

According to their opinion, Raimuti was a small but beautiful place. It is located near Arfai beach, only around two hundred meters from the main Papua land. There are some mangrove trees growing in the island. These vegetations help prevent the island from erosion that can eliminate the whole island from Papua map. Fortunately, not many people visit the island, that's way it still exists until now. Raimuti has been used by fishermen as a resting place or as a place to find fish bait.

A friend of mine, an indigenous Papuan said that there is a sunken warplane wreck around the waters of the Raimuti island. Unfortunately, he did not mention the exact location of the planewreck. The island is also surrounded by coral reef which is an important habitat for fish and other marine creatures.

If you are interested in visiting the island, you can hire a boat that belongs to the fishermen at Arfai beach. Usually its cost is Rp. 100,000 per day. I suggest that you bargain to get the suitable price. Don't forget to bring your own gear if you want to scuba dive around Raimuti, Lemon, and Mansinam islands.

Manokwari Street Parade Commemorating Gospel Landing Day

This week Manokwari town is busy. There are a lot of religious activities held by Christians community in this town, from boat racing to choir competition, and from art exhibition to street carnival.

Street parade has been an annual agenda for GKI di tanah Papua (the Evangelical Christian Church in Papua Land). It has just been held on 3 and 4 February before the celebration of the Gospel Landing Day on 5 February. Today is the 4 fourth of February and I just returned from Jalan Merdeka to watch the Karnaval Budaya (meaning Cultural Carnival). This carnival was held along the main streets of the town from Sanggeng to GKI Church of Elim in Kwawi area.

During the parade, the participants sang Gospel and traditional songs, performed dances, and wore traditional costumes. Tens of thousands of Christians have come from various towns and villages in Papua and other provinces in Indonesia to Manokwari to participate in this parade creating several kilometers of traffic congestion along the main streets.

Set in the Dorey bay under the Arfak mountain facing the Manokwari town, Mansinam island became the first place where two German missionaries settled to preach Christianity to Papuan people. Otto and Geisler landed on Mansinam island to preach Christianity to, what Alfred Russel Wallace in his book entitled the Malay Archipelago called, "the savage people" 155 years ago  Now majority of the Papuan population are Christians.

Besides being famous for religious tourism, its beautiful scenery and underwater shipwrecks continue to attract foreign tourists from around the world. Just tens of meters away off the Cross monument of the island, lies the Pillbox shipwreck which has usually become the starting point for divers. Another bigger shipwreck, the Shinwa Maru - a Japanese ship and coral reef can be explored at the south east off the island.by Charles Roring

Russian Tourists Saw Kuskus in Manokwari Papua

Last January three Russian tourists came to Manokwari to enjoy the natural beauty of Papuan forest. They walked around the Table Mountain (Gunung Meja) hoping to see Kuskus and other beautiful birds such as White and Goliath Cockatoo and paradise birds (Cendrawasih). Unfortunately, they were not able to see paradise birds and kuskus. They could only see Goliath Cockatoo and Bats in a cave located deep in the jungle of the Table Mountain. These Russian tourists expressed their concerns over the rapidly decreasing number of Kuskus population in Table Mountain's forest where ten years ago, Kuskus could still be seen. Kuskus population in the mountain is in danger of extinction due to huntings. Although this is a protected forest and the hunting activities in the forest have been banned by the government, hunters still kill animals in the forest.

As we could not locate kuskus in its natural habitat, we had to bring these Russian tourists to the house of Mr. Teniwut which was located some two hundred meters from SDN 1 Kota (formerly known as the Dutch Klim en Daal school). There, we saw a cute Kuskus living in a cage. Mr. Teniwut said that the animal was caught in Senopi village in the mountainous region of Manokwari regency. It is an endemic animal of Papua that is rapidly decreasing in number mostly due to huntings. In the past the local Papuan hunted these animals only for their meat. Now they catch Kuskus alive to sell them to wealthy people who will buy them in high prices. When we visited the Table Mountain several days ago, we saw that the local government had built a concrete gate and constructed a wooden house at the entrance of the forest in the Anggori area. Soon, people who want to enter it have to buy tickets. It means that the forest of the Table Mountain in Manokwari will become Hutan Wisata. If this is really their goal, we hope that the local government will be more serious in protecting the forest and in restoring the population of kuskus and other animals which were onced lived in the Table Mountain.

This article was written by Charles Roring (contact email peace4wp@gmail.com) to promote eco-tourism in Papua and to support the local people in getting alternative jobs in tourism related industries so that they will not cut the forest or hunt animals in the Table Mountain of Manokwari of West Papua..

Linda a Norwegian student visited Manokwari artists

This afternoon I accompanied a Norwegian student visiting some Papuan artists in Kota region of Manokwari town. Her name is Linda. It was around 3:20 p.m. when she arrived at my bookstore. She was walking from Hotel Billy when my sister saw her and picked her up. So, they arrived here by a minibus. After talking for a few minutes and looking at some of my and Paul's paintings, I and Linda walked to the home of Mr. Lucky Kaikatui. He is an oil painting artist. Unfortunately he was in Sorong. So, we could only talk to his wife. Linda took some pictures of his paintings. She said that she was interested in the painting of paradise birds but the size of the artwork was too big for her bag. Linda asked if the artist could make similar painting whose size is smaller. But Mr. Kaikatui's wife could not decide whether her husband would paint it nor mention its price. She said that she would call her husband to discuss Linda's request.

Then we continued our trip to the house of Mrs. Fonataba. She is a master of clothes weaving. She learned this skill from Catholic nuns when she was still young. Many of the women who could make hand made woven clothes have died. Perhaps, she is the only woman in Papua island who is able to manually weave clothes from cotton thread as shown in the photo above. She has taught her daughters and other women in Biak and Serui islands on how to weave clothes in order to pass down her skills to young generations. Mrs. Fonataba looked very happy. She was with her daughter and grand-daughters when we met her. I and Linda took some pictures there. Linda bought some bracelet made of orchid's roots and a piece of shawl, all of these items cost Rp. 210,000 (around 21 US dollars). Mrs. Fonataba said that she needs around one week to make a shawl if it was done as her past-time activity. But if she spends her whole day weaving the cloth, she will be able to finish it in three days.

It was going to rain when we walked to Mr. Awom's house which is located next to Suri bakery. He is a wood carving artist. He was about to go somewhere when we met him. Linda bought a photo frame there and also took some pictures of his nice artworks. The price of the frame was Rp. 100,000 (about 10 US dollars). She said that she could not buy bigger carvings because they are too big to be inserted into her backpack.
Across from Mr. Awom's house was Mrs. Kerewai's studio. Unfortunately, we could not meet her because she was still in Jayapura. She had just participated in an exhibition in Papua New Guinea. Her daughter said that she would be in Manokwari again the next day. There were some handicrafts made of sea shells displayed in Ms. Ruth's (the daughter of Ms. Kerewai) kiosk, but she did not buy them because they were too fragile to be brought in her backpack. Linda said that they will be broken when she arrives in Norway. It was raining when we (I and Paul) said good bye to Linda at the Pertokoan cross-road. She walked back to Billy hotel and we walked back up to our homes at Kompleks Missi area.
This beautiful girl is doing research on the possibility of the implementation of UN-REDD program to support communities living around the forest. UN-REDD stands for the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries. She will be in Manokwari for around three weeks visiting villages, talking to people, seeing the forest and collecting data.

Where is Manokwari, how can I get there?

If you read the title of the blog, you will see that I have changed it into the Diary of a Manokwari Tourist Guide. Yes, I am now working on promoting eco-tourism or responsible tourism in this small town which is now the capital of Papua Barat Province. And I have written articles related to traveling inside the rainforest of the Table Mountain as my main emphasis on this blog. I also have uploaded many photos related to foreign tourist activities in this town. As a travel writer, what I want to convey in this blog is the tourism activities that bring positive impacts to local people, the main stakeholders of the tourism industry in this town. They should be the ones who play important roles in the development of alternative tourism in this region.

You might have read some of my stories here or at my other web pages the Manokwari Travel Guide. I hope you will be interested in coming to this small yet very beautiful coastal town that is located not far from the equator. Also, there are several other stories about traveling in Manokwari which you can click and read at the end part of the article. There are still many things that I have not written and yet many places which I haven't explored. I prefer to use the term explore rather than visit. Why? Because the word "explore" means going to new places, finding new things, learning new culture, meeting new people, appreciating new world. Sometimes, when we go to Papua, we will see that this huge island has got many new mysteries which are waiting for us to explore. So, what are you waiting for?