What have the arts got to do with development?

This is a town of cool mornings, relentless midday heat and torrential evening downpours. The morning sun brings a kaleidoscope of blue dancing off the surface of the surrounding seas. Behind us, dense jungle greens scramble up towards hilly peaks that seem impossibly tall for a land so dotted in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean. These mountains meet the deep sea at Honiara in a standoff – each poised and ready to unsettle the other. Just across the way, the volcanic island of Savo quietly bubbles away with the promise of an almighty burst of flame and rock someday… sometime. You can’t help but feel the drama here. Actually, it’s a great setting for an arts festival.