P N G-Face Painting-

Papua New Guinea is one of, or if not the most diverse nations in the world, due to it’s climate and geography
There are hundreds of ethnic groups indigenous to Papua New Guinea, the majority being from the group known as Papuans, whose ancestors arrived in the New Guinea region tens of thousands of years ago.



Papua New Guinea has more languages than any other country in the world, with over 820 indigenous languages, representing twelve percent of the world's total.



A spine of mountains runs the length of the island of New Guinea, forming a densely inhabited highlands region.

People of the highlands engage in colourful native rituals that are called "sing sings".
They paint their faces and body’s, and dress up with feathers, pearls and animal skins to represent birds, trees or mountain spirits.



Sometimes an important event, such as a legendary battle, is
Re-enacted at such a musical festival.



Face and body painting is a complex process of preparation requiring the combined efforts of whole families and tribes.



Formerly, most pigments came from natural clays in yellow, white
and rust colours. Sometimes these were baked in leaf packets to intensify the colour. Other sources were vegetable dyes, charcoal and powdered white lime from shells.
Paint brushes where originally made from chewed up twigs,



Now day’s stores sell packets and bottles of commercial paints, which are favoured for their ease of use and more brilliant colours.



The culture of Papua New Guinea is many-sided and complex. It is estimated that more than a thousand different cultural groups exist in PNG.



Because of this diversity, many different styles of cultural expression have emerged; each group has created its own expressive forms in art, dance, weaponry, costumes, singing, music and architecture.



BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papua_New_Guinea
http://www.art-pacific.com/artifacts/nuguinea/bilas/bodyart/pigment/pigmenta.htm
http://www.artforconservation.org/cristina.htm
http://encarta.msn.com/media_461531274/papuan_mask.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Guinea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Papua_New_Guinea