The National Cultural Commission (NCC) has recently launched the Toare Cultural Centre at Toare village in the Kerema District of Gulf Province.
NCC Research Manager Alex Puki said the centre will provide a dedicated space for the masks, keeping them away from families and homes.
He said the project began in 2023 when the NCC research team conducted a study and discovered a significant collection of masks within the Toare territory of Kerema District.
“While masks are found in other parts of the country, the Toare mask is unique due to the diverse cultural meanings and traditions embedded in each mask,” Puki said.
He explained that the Toare Cultural Centre is the result of a collaborative initiative between the National Cultural Commission and UNESCO.
“The cultural centre is one of the processes of preparing a nomination file for the Urgent Safeguarding List for the social practices and rituals related to the Toare mask culture,” Puki said.
He expressed gratitude to UNESCO, the National Cultural Commission, and the people of Toare for their unwavering support and collaboration in making the Toare Cultural Centre a reality.
Puki added that they will push for the Toare Mask Culture to be included in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Urgent Safeguarding List.
Gulf Tourism and Culture Coordinator Oscar Evara emphasized the importance of the masks stating that the masks were once kept in a special, designated place, and when it was time to perform, the villagers would visit that space to conduct rituals before wearing the masks.
