Born 1959, Wila Village, Mt Hagen. Performance artist, thinker, lecturer, curator and teacher, Michael Mel is currently Senior Lecturer and Head of Expressive Arts and Religious Education Department at the University of Goroka. Knowledgeable in international contemporary arts, he is, more uniquely, an expert in the local arts and oral traditions of Papua New Guinea´s rich and diverse cultures. He focuses on issues of cultural identity and survival, education through art, the understanding and re-evaluation of indigenous wisdom and the preservation of positive aspects of local cultures. He plays a key role in the cultural development of Papua New Guinea´s highland communities and his performance/ installation work, for example at the Asia Pacific Triennial in 2003, is innovative and culturally significant. He negotiates exchanges between Papua New Guinea, Australia, Asia and the world at large, and demonstrates the emergence of a new Papuan identity, linking the past with an impetus for change within a difficult political, social and economic context.
Exerpt of a video talk, recorded in Goroka. „Let´s talk about Noodles, about the „Noodle-sation“ of our country. Noodles replace our local food, and so they replace local culture…“
