We need to capitalize on our arts, culture

By ROBERT H. HUNTER

This weekend saw the holding of the 25th successful year of the Flame Tree Arts Festival.

As a former staff of the Arts Council, I know first-hand the very hard work it takes to put an event like this together. As a long-time artist, who participated in this year’s event, I’d like to extend thanks to all of the people who pulled together to make the festival happen. This includes the CCAC Executive Director Mrs. Cecilia Celes, the CCAC staff, the Flame Tree Festival Committee, the various governmental entities and the volunteers that provided service at the event.

Type “Flame Tree Festival” in any web search engine and you will get literally hundreds of pages with reference to the Flame Tree Arts Festival. This can be attributed to the longevity and success of this event and efforts by the CCAC itself to market the festival. The festival, in the last few years, has drawn hundreds of visitors from outside of the CNMI. In 2005, 400 participated at their own expense from Guam alone, and this number does not include all of the family members that accompanied the visual and performing artists and does not include those who came from Guam just to see the event. I understand that there were close to 200 this year and received a report from one hotel that they were booked significantly with individuals here from Guam to see the festival.

This is one of several activities that the CNMI needs to ensure remains a success and needs to capitalize on. Unfortunately, current tour operators in the CNMI do not. While we see articles in the newspapers on occasion that point to visitor surveys showing the need for more cultural activities and activities in general, we have never seen but a handful (four to seven individuals) of tourists at the festival.

Travelers often schedule their trips around festivals and events. Events and particularly arts and cultural events often draw international visitors who “follow” the event and come back to visit the event year after year. How many tour operators include in their packages or facilitate the transportation of visitors to the “Garapan Street Market”, the NMI and AMP Museums, the Chamolinian Cultural Village, or even the “Taste of the Marianas”? These are all quality cultural activities that have an historic record of success, that are safe and “family friendly” and that are unique to the CNMI. The few tourists that we have seen at the Flame Tree Arts Festival over the years have had a great time. In fact, they would cruise the booths, get their food and spend hours watching the performances at the main stage, and more importantly they would have a chance to interact with the community. These are tourists who are more likely to remember fondly their travel to Saipan and more likely to return.

The Chairperson for the Guam Council for the Arts and Humanities, Mrs. Flora Baza Quan, made a very good point in her speech during the opening ceremonies for the festival. It was a point that is mentioned frequently in community discussions, but has seemingly never been a focus in terms of respective action in tourism development and marketing strategies. Her point, to paraphrase it, was that there are beautiful beaches at destinations all over the Pacific and all over the world for that matter. What makes the Marianas different as a destination is its own unique and rich artistic and cultural heritage. We need to capitalize on this. This should be the focal point of our tourism development and play an important role in our strategy to market the CNMI. If it is acknowledged that tourism is going to be the mainstay of our economy, then this is the only way we are going to build a unique destination and be truly able to compete.

This means cultural infrastructure such as a quality state arts gallery and a cultural center, and support for the new mariculture center and/or aquarium, public art (sculpture, murals, statuary), NMI museum, Chamolinian Cultural Village, local market, an historic district and quality annual cultural activities like the Flame Tree Arts Festival. It is my opinion that these activities are fundamental to the rebuilding of the tourist industry here. Would they have been considered fundamental and properly funded at the beginning of the growth of the tourism industry here…we’d probably have a plethora of quality activities supported and bolstered through such integration of tourism and most likely have a significant number of repeat visitors to the CNMI.

Unlike the CNMI, Hawaii has rebounded from the economic slump that adversely affected Pacific island tourist economies, and now has the lowest unemployment rate in the entire United States. Hawaii has invested in comprehensive arts and cultural facilities and activities, which include the Hawaii State Art Museum, Maui Arts and Cultural Center, the Contemporary Art Museum, the Hui No’eau Visual Arts Center, the Luce Pavilion Complex and Science and Learning Center at the Bishop Museum, the Kahilu Theater, the Children’s Arts Museum, the Kuai Children’s Discovery Museum, the Honolulu Academy of Arts, the Hawaii Youth Symphony, the renovation and operation of several historic theaters, the Honolulu Theater for Youth, Ballet Hawaii, and numerous other public arts projects, arts venues and arts activities. For years the most visited attraction in Hawaii has been the Polynesian Cultural Center, despite the $65 ticket price. In fact, gohawaii.com, the Hawaii Visitor and Convention Association’s traveler webpage, maintains most of its focus on the arts and culture of Hawaii. Research after research, including a most recent study in January 2006 facilitated by Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, shows arts and culture to be at the cornerstone of tourism and economic development in Hawaii.

The Marianas maintains a rich and unique artistic and cultural heritage. Two traditional cultures, the Chamorro and Carolinian, both unique in the world, whose influence plays a significant role even in non-traditional art forms practiced here and on the non-indigenous artists who reside here. Cheaper high-end leather goods, funny marketing gimmicks, golf courses and beaches will never foster a strong long-term tourism industry. They are nice additions to what should be an industry primarily focused on those things that are and will always be unique to us, our artistic and cultural heritage.

Kudos again to all those who worked hard to make this year’s festival a success, to Gov. Fitial and Lt. Gov. Villagomez, senators and representatives that supported the event many year after year, and to the many private sector sponsors.

(Robert Hunter is a resident artist and the former head of the CNMI Arts Council.)