Vanuatu's art sector is fragmented and strongly connected to kastom, meaning Indigenous customary knowledge and practice. Artistic forms include wood carving, weaving, pandanus, banana and coconut-fibre craft, shell and lava-stone jewellery, painting, pottery, textiles, body-painting, tattooing and sand drawing. Sand drawing has ritual, mnemonic, communicative and aesthetic functions and was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List in 2008. Vanuatu has about 80 language groups, so the meaning and permitted use of an artistic form can depend on its community, language, ceremony and customary responsibilities. Commercial presentation for visitors can remove a work from its social and symbolic setting if the context and permissions are not respected. Music includes string bands, tamtam drums, songs, instrumental music and kastom performance. Live performance also includes kastom dance, drama and storytelling. The National Music Policy 2022–2026 sets a policy framework, while a proposed National Music Authority Act and Vanuatu Music Council were under consultation on 20 August 2026; no enacted authority was evidenced in the available research. The fifth National Arts & Culture Festival took place in Tanna, Tafea, from 4 to 8 August 2025, involving all six provinces and about 1,000 cultural groups. A sixth festival was announced for Penama in 2029. These festivals occur on a five-year cycle and are not a continuous professional training option. Literary activity includes oral stories, legends, poetry, chants, songs and narratives. Written literary works fall under copyright, and the Vanuatu Kaljoral Senta, also called the Vanuatu Cultural Centre, provides library, archive and deposit options. The National Film, Sound & Photo Archive collects, preserves and promotes cultural recordings. Foreign cultural film, video, still-photography, audio or research projects require notification to the National Film and Sound Unit and consent from the Vanuatu National Cultural Council. The application fee is $179, a refundable archive bond is VT 50,000, and approved projects must provide 50% of rushes and 50% of the finished copy together with documentary photographs or deposits. Cultural artefact removal is generally prohibited under chapter 39, subject to exceptions based on a research agreement. Architecture and design are covered in part by the Protection of Traditional Knowledge and Expressions of Culture Act, including architectural drawings, designs, paintings and crafts. Contemporary local design is supported through the Department of Industry and Vanuatu Made activities, including a garment and textile strategy for 2026–2031. No dedicated national institution for architecture as art or digital art was evidenced. Art is present in the Ministry of Education and Training curriculum from preschool to Year 13 through visual art, music, dance and drama. Formal post-school training requires a Vanuatu Qualifications Authority-registered provider, an accredited course and delivery approval within the ten-level Vanuatu Qualifications Framework. No art-specific accredited course was identified in the reviewed material, while provincial Skills Centres offer non-formal support in product improvement, production efficiency, business skills and sustainable raw materials. Art markets are mainly informal and are connected to tourism, Port Vila market houses and provincial centres. Current community-owned centres include the Malampa Handicraft Centre, Sanma Creative Hub, Torba Handicraft Cooperative and Tafea Creative Industry and Cultural Market Centre. Together, these programmes involve more than 300 producers, including 76% women and 11 producers with disabilities, and report combined sales above VT 35 million. Their links include Port Vila, Australia and New Zealand. An older Department of Industry estimate from 2016 placed the souvenir and handicraft market at VT 1.3 billion and estimated that 90% of goods were imported; this is a historical programme estimate, not a current national market total. Copyright arises automatically when an eligible work is created and can cover reproduction, adaptation, distribution, public performance and display of artistic, dramatic, literary, musical, photographic and audiovisual works, as well as software. The Vanuatu Intellectual Property Office can register copyright, designs, patents and trademarks. The Vanuatu Copyright Management Society handles membership, licensing, royalties and economic rights. The Protection of Traditional Knowledge and Expressions of Culture Act also protects collective, intergenerational, secret and sacred expressions and the interests of customary holders. No general admission or price standard exists for art, and course fees vary by provider. Responsibility is shared among bodies including the Ministry of Justice and Community Services, the Vanuatu National Cultural Council, the Vanuatu Cultural Centre, the National Museum, the Department of Industry, the Vanuatu Qualifications Authority and the Malvatumauri National Council of Chiefs.
Art in Vanuatu
Art in Vanuatu includes customary creative practices, visual art, music, literature, film, performance, architecture, design, photography and digital forms. Much of this work is learned through communities, cultural events, archives, schools, markets and informal practice rather than through one national academy or gallery system. Customary knowledge, copyright, cultural consent and the commercial context all affect how art is created, shared and sold.
Tip
Treat art in Vanuatu as community- and context-dependent, especially where kastom, ceremony or customary knowledge is involved. Before creating, recording, displaying or selling work, clarify permissions, preserve attribution and social meaning, and choose a realistic route through community networks, Skills Centres, cultural institutions or informal markets. Foreign cultural recording or research projects require additional consent, notification, fees, deposits and permit conditions.