PNG bilum wear is finding its way into graduation events - it's a fashion with new trend

by EURALIA PAINE - Extracted from Keith Jackson's PNG Attitude blog 

When I am overseas and I see someone carrying a bilum, something uncharacteristic happens. I stop in my tracks and check the person up and down. It is the association with all things Papua New Guinean that stirs the familiar wistful feeling at the sight of a bilum on a stranger.

    The ethnic origin of the word bilum is unclear even though it is thought to be Melanesian. It is defined in the Jacaranda Dictionary as a carry-all by women throughout Papua New Guinea. In some areas, the net or woven string, is used as clothing thus the expression ‘meri i pasim bilum’. Bilum is also defined as the womb, the placenta or the pouch of a marsupial such as a wallaby.

In traditional societies the bilum is woven from animal fur, dried fibre extracted from tree bark, sisal or vine. In urban areas, the bilum is woven from wool or twine purchased from trade stores.

The versatility and practicality of a bilum is well renowned. It is still used for carrying garden produce or for moving goods from place to place. It is also used for carrying babies.

You can identify what province a bilum is from by its design and style. In recent times, it has become a much sought-after accessory item and an attractive souvenir for tourists and visitors to Papua New Guinea. Very recently, it has become a fashionable garment to wear.

At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne the Papua New Guinea athletes were dressed in bilum wear and looked spectacular in the national colours of red, black and gold woven by the women of Eastern Highlands under the auspices of Jaukae Bilum Products based in Goroka.

That was a very proud moment for Florence Jaukae, managing director and principal designer of Jaukae. She recalls the overwhelming emotion she felt as she sat watching the team in the PNG colours march past the grandstand. It was the biggest order the Jaukae Bilum Products had completed to that time – 52 pieces in all consisting of neck ties for men and one and two-piece outfits for women.

Jaukae was set up in 2001 and generates income for 50 women and their families, predominantly from Kama village. The venture is a women’s community project initiated by Florence, who saw the need to provide self-help activities to the local women as well as to utilise the unique talents of bilum weaving in the highlands.

Florence is a local ward councillor and a women’s leader. She has been working as a bookkeeper for Frameworks Architects in Goroka for 16 years.

The inspiration to begin Jaukae Bilum Products came about one day when she noticed the colours on a carpet snake and a Christmas beetle (popularly worn as part of headdresses in the Highlands). The patterns and colours on the snake and the insect got her wondering what they would look like on a clothing item, particularly woven like a bilum. One thing led to another and before she knew it a group of women had congregated, perhaps more out of curiosity than anything else.

Weaving bilums is second nature to the women of the Highlands and they did not need much coaching to get going. Nevertheless the venture has been a learning curve for them and the women have modified the art of weaving a bilum.

In the case of a bilum for carrying goods, weaving begins at the bottom of the bag and ends at the mouth with the handle being the last bit to be completed. To make a clothing item such as a dress, weaving the main body piece begins at the neck and goes down to the hem. Sleeves are done separately and attached.

Jaukae operates from a community hall in Kama where the women and some young men are assigned to do customer orders daily. Florence is quick to add that the men’s main task is to spin the fibre so that it is taut enough for the women to weave.

Until now, they have been receiving small orders to make dresses, tops, skirts, neck ties, beer coolers and patchwork, bits of bilum woven into jean trousers, jackets and skirts. The clothing is made from wool and tree bark fibre with added decorations such as chicken and cassowary feathers, cuscus fur, seeds, beads, shells and pig tusks.

Intricate as it is, washing or cleaning of bilum wear should be done with extreme care to avoid stretching, shrinkage and discolouring. Bilum wear made from tree bark fibre, sisal or vine is more delicate. It should only be aired.

An item of bilum wear takes six weeks minimum to make and is labour intensive. Prices range from K200 for a top to K300 for a full-length dress. During year-end graduation ceremonies, outfits are hired out for K30 an hour to parents who could not afford to buy them. Two-thirds of the income goes to the women and the remainder goes towards the cost of materials and other expenses.

Florence acknowledges that the art of weaving a bilum is not unique to Eastern Highlands women. “When a woman looks at a bilum that she has not seen before, she can go away and make one just as easily. We cannot stop that from happening. Our main problem is marketing our products,” she says.

Jaukae Bilum Products can make anything according to customer demand and is open to suggestions from organisations that want tailor-made products or unique branding.

The women have been fortunate enough to attract the attention of the Small Business Development Corporation and Oxfam which have assisted them in skills development. In 2006, Jaukae was one of 18 groups in the country that won the inaugural PNG Tingim Youth contest and received financial assistance from the World Bank. The venture has now diversified with the establishment of a piggery farm and an elementary school.

Jaukae Bilum Products is not without its critics. Florence explained that in the beginning certain sectors of the community opposed the venture saying the bilum was not meant for wearing. But this mother of nine (including four adopted children) stood firm. She knows that something as unique as a bilum has the potential to create a niche market and uses every opportunity to wear it as a walking advertisement.

When I interviewed Florence she had just got off the plane from Goroka wearing a beautiful green and blue knee- length bilum dress and carried a matching bilum bag. The colours of her outfit were much like the colours of a Christmas beetle.

She is determined to see the bilum transform into something bigger and better- hopefully to being the national dress of Papua New Guinea. After all, to weave a bilum wear can be likened to weaving the fabric of PNG society.

Emily Andrias with her bigger sister Maria Andrias after the graduation. 

Bilum dress has become a fashion amongst young PNG girls. Today at least at every graduation ceremony, a girl or some girls must have to wear a bilum dress for the event. 

In this photograph below is Emily Andrias Aisa who wears a PNG Bilum dress with patterns from the Simbu Provincial Flag on her year 12 graduation at Anglimb Secondary School in the Jiwaka Province. Photographs courtesy of Emily Andrias Aisa /March 2017.

Emily with her school mate dressed in traditional attire.

  

Emily Andrias proudly in her bilum dress made by her aunty for the graduation day.

Emily with one of her best friends at school Alphonse Mek from Enga Province.

Emily with her small aunty.