The kastom keepers of the coral sea whose living traditions make Vanuatu the soul of Melanesia.
Vanuatu Australians — the community whose origins in Vanuatu, the Y-shaped archipelago of eighty islands stretching across eight hundred kilometers of the southwestern Pacific whose volcanic peaks, black sand beaches, and reef-fringed coastlines shelter the most linguistically dense nation on earth — over one hundred distinct languages spoken by a population of fewer than three hundred thousand people, a concentration of human linguistic diversity unmatched anywhere on the planet and testament to the thousands of years of separate island development that produced in each valley and on each island a complete and self-sufficient world of language, custom, and knowledge. The Vanuatu world of kastom — the Bislama word for the living traditional culture that Ni-Vanuatu people have maintained and celebrated with extraordinary pride through colonial contact, Christian mission, and independence — encompasses the sand drawing tradition of remarkable geometric complexity whose patterns encode navigational, cosmological, and social knowledge in a graphic language recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, the grade-taking ceremonies of Malekula and Ambrym whose elaborate pig-sacrifice rituals and carved wooden slit drums of towering height mark a man's ascent through the ranks of traditional authority, and the land diving of Pentecost Island whose men leap from wooden towers with vines tied to their ankles in the world's original bungee jump and a ceremony of breathtaking courage that has been performed every harvest season for centuries, all carried by Vanuatu Australians into the southern continent as a living kastom heritage of incomparable richness. This interactive sweatshirt connects you to that extraordinary legacy with a QR code linking to the full story.
HERITAG is a purpose-driven brand that celebrates cultural diversity and awareness. Wear and share your social identity and cultural heritage with a unique collection of interactive sweatshirts that carry flags of ethnic groups in Australia. Create informative and fun moments by inviting people to scan the visible QR code and learn about the diverse Australia population.
Making products on demand instead of in bulk also helps reduce overproduction, and this quality sweatshirt is made especially for you as soon as you place an order.
Few more things to know about this sweatshirt: • Scannable QR code printed on the back for an interactive and fun experience • Designed to educate about a nation's proud history milestones and rich culture • Custom print-on-demand • 50% cotton, 50% polyester • Regular fit, sturdy and warm, pre-shrunk soft-feel fabric • Double-needle stitched spandex collar, shoulders, armholes, cuffs, and hem
