Vanuatu

Vanuatu is a South Pacific archipelago of over 80 islands, known for its extraordinary cultural diversity, with more than 100 spoken languages, with the official languages being English, French and Bislama, an English-based creole language.

Kastom, or customary practices and beliefs, are a part of ceremonies, dispute resolution, and land stewardship, grounding people in their ancestral knowledge while adapting to modern influences.

Named as New Hebrides by James Cook, and shaped by a dual British and French colonial past and strong missionary presence, Vanuatu’s society navigates a balance between kastom and contemporary life, with Ni-Vanuatu people maintaining strong connections to their islands while facing challenges like urban migration, climate change, and global economic pressures.

Vanuatu woman with her face painted with tribal motifs looking at the camera wearing a colourful head piece with colourful feathers and sparkly tinsel.

Celebrating Ni-Vanuatu Bislama Language Week

Join us for the official launch of the Vanuatu Bislama Lawis Wik 2025 – a celebration including speeches, singsing (waiata, songs), tok stori (whaikōrero, storytelling), and Tanna naio making, a traditional head piece from Tanna Island in Vanuatu.

Sun 27 Jul 2025, 10.30am–1.00pm

Event Ngā kaupapa motuhake

A large piece of bark cloth with patterns drawn on it in a darker dye.

Nemasitse bark cloth from Vanuatu

Nemasitse is bark cloth that was made on the island of Erromango in Vanuatu until the early 20th century. Women made several types of nemasitse that were both decorated and plain. Some were used as floor coverings or blankets. Decorated pieces were worn as ceremonial garments.

Three women in brightly coloured dresses are greeting each other on a Pacific Island.

View: Photographs of Vanuatu by Glenn Jowitt

Photographer Glenn Jowitt (1955–2014) is best known for his images of Pacific people and their cultures, both in New Zealand and in the Pacific Islands. Look through his photographs of Vanuatu taken in 1997 and 2004.

A tall carved wooden pole with a face in the top half and a vertical slit in the hollow bottom half.

Vanuatu Tamtam – wooden slit drum

This type of wooden slit drum is found on the central and southern islands of Vanuatu, particularly on Malekula and Ambrym, and were often owned by men of high rank. At ceremonial dance grounds, the drums were used for beating out dance rhythms as well as signalling.

Malakula dance costume

This costume comprising a lingesges (mask), nubang (penis sheath), vivang (ankle rattles), and bugho (belt), and was made by Erna Meleun and worn in June 2005 for naluan mekam - a dance performed through the night as part of a grade-taking ceremony in Lamap on Malakula Island, Vanuatu.

Magnificent petrels, and pina coladas on the beach

Te Papa vertebrate curators Colin Miskelly and Alan Tennyson spent two weeks researching seabirds in northern Vanuatu and recount some of their adventures along the way..

Kites from Vanuatu

View drawings of a kite from the colonially named Banks Islands – in Bislama language Bankis – and a palm leaf kite from New Hebrides, now Vanuatu.

Vanuatu mats

Mats in Vanuatu range from fine costume items through to floor coverings and large mats used in ceremonial presentations. Mats are important items of exchange at weddings – some are used in rituals; some are considered dangerous items connected with sorcery. Many of the mats are coloured with a distinctive red dye, and some are not coloured, instead often featuring distinctive openwork patterns.