Culture and knowledge are transferred through ceremony in East New Britain. Important narratives relating to history, to law and to cosmological belief are physically enacted and embraced through the drumming of kundu (drums) and feet, the learning of songs, and the coming together of people in ceremony. Those with special knowledge and ability create the bilas (ornamentation) worn for these dances. Predominantly men, they are believed to inherit their creative talent and are initiated into the ways of realising customary forms so that they can effectively communicate the narratives.

The introduction of Christianity and a cash economy — and the availability of synthetic materials — have had an impact on the forms and materials that the artists use, as well as on the narratives. These tokatokoi (headdresses) created by Tolai men demonstrate such changes with the Virgin Mary replacing a customary ancestor figure in one group and the use of found objects and commercial materials. The centrality of ceremony and the creation of bilas for communicating important beliefs, ideas and knowledge still remain.