Solomon Islands has a broad cultural ecosystem rather than one central art council, academy or professional pathway. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism and its Culture Division develop cultural policy, support festivals and training, promote creative industries and cultural tourism, and work with provincial governments, communities and the private sector. The Government announced a National Arts Council as a 2025 goal, but its establishment is not confirmed in the available evidence. Visual art and crafts have the clearest established pathways. The National Art Gallery presents and supports wood carving, pearl-shell inlay, pandanus weaving, tapa cloth printing, shell money jewellery, painting and textile printing. It also organises exhibitions, workshops, festivals and market activities. The Honiara Craft Market Centre provides artisan stalls for production and sales through a rental model, although the available evidence does not establish the rental amount. Solomon Islands National Museum collects, protects, documents and presents tangible and intangible cultural heritage. It also handles research permits, venue hire and work related to restitution and repatriation. Music and performing arts have strong community and festival connections. The Culture Division's Cultural Registration Form records groups by province or ethnic group, membership, leader and contact details, and distinguishes traditional dance or pipe groups, traditional drama, contemporary dance, contemporary cultural dance, traditional music and contemporary music. The National Panpipe Festival has been documented in 2017, 2019 and 2026; its 2026 programme included performances, traditional dance, bamboo craft, visual exhibitions, shell-money and carving demonstrations, oral histories, youth mentoring and a cultural trade fair. Panpipe and bamboo practices can carry stories, histories, lamentations and ceremonial expressions. Kastom refers to customary cultural practices, knowledge and community responsibilities. Transmission often takes place through families, communities, oral histories and tok-stori, meaning shared storytelling and conversation, rather than through a national professional institution. Kalsa Schools are identified in policy as schools for kastom and traditional knowledge. Policy also supports arts and music in primary and secondary education, while Solomon Islands National University offers teaching and study connected with language, communications, media and journalism, sports and creative arts, English literature, music and expressive arts. Workshops, school-awareness activities, youth mentoring and community-based intangible cultural heritage training provide additional non-formal routes. Literature is linked to oral histories, storytelling, writing and publishing, but the available evidence does not show a national literature council, large independent literature market or dedicated national funding pathway. Film is covered by copyright law, yet no national film fund, film school, film archive or permanent film industry is directly evidenced. Architecture and design appear in copyright protection for buildings, models and artistic craftsmanship, and local bamboo practices include traditional architecture, weaving, handicrafts, utensils and musical instruments. The cultural registration form also recognises graphic and floral designers. These fields mainly use project, community or education-based access. Photography is recognised as an artistic work and has appeared in National Art Gallery exhibitions. A 2026 digital content creation training programme covered photography, videography, content creation and digital storytelling for about 30 tourism operators and included arts and crafts. This provides a functional pathway for digital practice, but the available evidence does not establish a separate national digital-art institution or sector. An individual artist, cultural association or group can seek registration through the Culture Division. The registration is recorded as free, and the form asks for the group type, ethnic group or province, member number, leader, contact details and artistic category. No formal artistic qualification or licence is established for access. Craft-market stalls require a separate application. Gallery and museum visits, venue hire and public programmes follow the relevant institution's arrangements, and the evidence does not establish uniform national opening times, hire charges or permit processing periods. The Copyright Act, Cap. 138, enacted in 1987 and revised in 1996, has been in force since 1 June 1988. It covers original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, including paintings, sculptures, drawings, engravings, photographs, buildings, models and artistic craftsmanship, as well as films, sound recordings and broadcasts. Rights include reproduction, publication, broadcasting, transmission, adaptation and public performance. Obtain permission or a licence before using another creator's work, and record any transfer of rights in writing. Copyright registration with the Registrar can produce a certificate that serves primarily as evidence; the law provides for a fee, but the available evidence does not establish the local amount. Government copyright may apply to works created or first published by the government, subject to the relevant contract. Traditional knowledge and cultural expressions require additional care. The KALSA policy calls for protection of customary owners and equitable collective benefits, but a comprehensive binding traditional-knowledge and cultural-expression law is not established in the available evidence. Government commitments in 2025 and an UNESCO-Aschberg programme in 2026 referred to copyright and intellectual-property reform, artists' rights and a Solomon Islands Performing Rights Organisation as a collective-management mechanism for musicians and creators; these developments do not by themselves replace current legislation. Consult the relevant community when work involves sacred places, customary taboos, restricted practices, oral histories or other community-held knowledge. Do not assume that public visibility removes customary ownership or permission requirements. Honiara is the main institutional and market centre, while provincial governments and communities carry many groups, traditions and festival activities. Prices, income levels, market size and a general arts-funding rate are not established by the available evidence. The main practical risks are unauthorised reproduction or performance, incorrect attribution, misuse of traditional knowledge and commercial appropriation of community-owned expressions.
Art in Solomon Islands
Art in Solomon Islands includes visual art, crafts, music, dance, theatre, literature, film, architecture, design, photography and digital creative work. The strongest established activity is in visual art and crafts, music, performing arts and cultural festivals, while literature, film, architecture, design, photography and digital art use more fragmented or project-based pathways. Work is supported through the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and its Culture Division, Solomon Islands National Museum, National Art Gallery, community and provincial groups, Solomon Islands National University and the Honiara Craft Market Centre. Access, sales and training are concentrated in Honiara, while provinces remain central to community traditions, groups and festivals.
Tip
Choose your working pathway by the kind of art you make and the result you need. Visual artists and craft makers can start with Culture Division registration, National Art Gallery activities and a separately arranged Honiara Craft Market Centre stall, while music and performance groups may use cultural registration, festivals and community programmes. Check copyright permission, customary ownership, fees and processing times before publishing, selling, reproducing or performing work.