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VANUATU - Vanuatu is a remote Pacific island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean, about a five-hour flight northeast of Sidney, Australia. A number of years ago I was sent there on assignment by Travel + Leisure Magazine, to document a journey through the archipelago on a beautiful 60’ two masted ketch. Our travels between islands brought us one day to a settlement on Ambrym Island where we were greeted by the village elders. After a brief introduction, they donned their ritual garb and proceeded to begin ceremonial dances in the area in front of their monumental and beautiful Slit Gongs. Years later I came across a similar Slit Gong from the same village at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and was immediately transported back to this moment in time.