Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea) Ela Beach (map)
Friday, 18 December 2015
Why does a town administration choose to have plastic coconut trees in a place where real trees would grow perfectly well? In order, perhaps, to be symbolically present via such sculptures in a place where violent crime is frequent? Although a display of plants lovingly groomed by local gardeners would make the flaneur sense the presence of a power that puts order in its territory, in the capital of Papua New Guinea they quite evidently repose more trust in art. But, despite the imaginatively and variedly shaped trees around, one sees nobody here who would doze on his beach towel in the evening sun. I guess art is simply not equipped to bring things into balance.
First Publication: 5-1-2016
Modifications: