Performing Place: Tourism and Touring with the Leweton Cultural Village

Abstract

Embodying dual legacies (ancestral and colonial), communities throughout the Pacific Islands are configuring and re-configuring themselves, their cultures and, consequently, the world around them. This article examines the performative articulation of cultural heritage in Northern Vanuatu. Taking the case of the Leweton “cultural village” – performers of the Vanuatu Women’s Water Music – this article explores the deliberative creation of diasporic identities. The process is complexified by the intangible and mobile elements of the water music as Leweton is a destination for tourists visiting the islands of Vanuatu, as well as an ensemble often “on tour” performing at international festivals and events.