Activating memory of Manus through strands of basket-making: A conversation with Nayahamui Rooney

Abstract

This conversation explores themes of memory, activism, and the arts through the scholarship, poetry, and practice of Nayahamui Rooney. In a range of interdisciplinary work, Rooney, a Papua New Guinean woman, has analyzed key issues of power, violence, justice, and voice in Papua New Guinea. In this interview, Rooney reflects on how her journey to become a maker of baskets on Manus Island informed her understanding of the political and social dynamics of memory, especially in the context of Australia’s decision to base a regional processing center for asylum seekers on Manus Island in the first decades of the twenty-first century. The interview explores how the relationships among basket-making, collective memory, interdisciplinary scholarship, and political activism can emerge in non-linear and recursive ways in response to changing political discourses. It concludes by reflecting on how the scholarship of today can lay the groundwork for a more inclusive collective memory that will be needed in the future.