Vendor Philomena Joseph splashes water over fish at Koki Fish Market near Port Moresby’s Ela Beach. The market is the best in town for seafood and is a lively place, with vendors and customers bargaining over the catch of the day. The fish here were caught by net the night before and the water helps keep them fresh in the stifling heat of the PNG capital.
The tapa cloth on sale here at the craft market at the National Museum and Art Gallery in Port Moresby is from the Oni Tribe in Oro Province. Vendor Roderick Vana returns home to the province to collect more stock when he runs out. The tapa cloth is made from the bark of the mulberry tree (white) and the oak tree (brown and yellowish). The patterns and designs represent various stories, which Vana can interpret for buyers.
SEPTEMBER 2020 PNG NOW 29
