The Instruments

A wide variety of panpipes are used to create the music which transmits Aré Aré culture through the generations. Ensembles play Au Rerepi, Au takairori, Au Keto, Au Tahana, Au Ahai, Au Kiro, Au Nimato and Au Rokoau panpipes, while Au Niau, Au Waa, Au Ware, Au Porare, Ao po'o and Au Nimato are played by solo artists. The Au Nimato can also be played by two or four musicians.

The Au Rokoau was founded in the 1960s from a desire to combine the differing traditional panpipes of Aré Aré into one, based on the intensive research conducted by Mr. Isaac Houmawai of Palasu'u village. Au Rokoau the most common sound today, having spread all over the Solomon Islands.

The Costume

The costume worn by Narasirato during their performances is called kapirato and is made from the bark of a tree. The preparation involves cutting the tree, crushing the bark with a stick, and then suspending the log under water for three days. The bark is then peeled off and dried in the sun for a day. In the time of our ancestors there were no clothes, with just a few leaves to hang over the front of male and female, being the dress of that time.

The strands of shell beads are the normal decoration of the Aré Aré people during feasting and festivals. These strands are also traditional money for trading in the Aré Aré culture. Even today they are valuable and accepted for commerce in Aré Aré society, and are still an indispensable part of the bride price required before a marriage can take place.

The shells worn on the forehead of the musicians and dancers are festive ornaments normally worn by chiefs, elevating individual status higher, and calling for respect to the person wearing them.

The bracelets are woven from a special bush creeper. Some are made out of cone shell, pearl shell and trochus, and are normally worn at festivals and feasts. During the time of our ancestors, when metal tools and were rare or not available, the shell bracelets were used to aid in fighting, as a deadly weapon. Chest pieces, normally made from pearl shell in an oval shape, are the chief's ornament and also used for dancing.

Bark fibre baskets are woven and used to carry belongings, especially valuables. Security and safety of valuable belongings is not guaranteed, as homes are not secured, so people expect to carry their valuable belongings with them wherever they go. Bigger bags are used to gather garden food and other objects that are to be carried. They were also used to store clothing and other valuables.

The chest shell belt with the teeth attached is shell money woven out of shell beads, and containing the teeth of the ancestors of the tribe. This is the most valuable of all shell money, and is the property of the chief or the most elderly man of the tribe. It is worn only during feasting and represents chiefly status in the society.