The costumes for kastom dance are extraordinary. Dancers wear headdresses made from feathers, shells, and woven fibre. Their bodies are painted with patterns of red, black, and white, each design carrying meaning. Shell jewellery - often made from tradeable shell money, a traditional form of wealth in the Solomons - rattles and chimes as the dancers move.
Each dance has a purpose. Some welcome visitors or celebrate a harvest; others mark a young person's coming-of-age or the completion of a canoe. The movements, rhythms, and songs all carry the knowledge of the community - stories about the sea, the forest, the ancestors, and the right way to live together.
The Festival of Pacific Arts, a huge celebration held across Pacific nations in rotation, gives Solomon Islanders and their neighbours a chance to share their kastom dances with each other and the world. Dancers from remote villages travel to perform alongside groups from across Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia, creating a joyful showcase of Pacific culture.