Left to right: Tuevenesa Puleitu Leatigaga, Tusolo Aumale, Natalia Mann, Sinsa Mansell, Grace Vanilau, Folole Tupuola, Lila Meleisea, Galumalemana Steve Percival, Regina Meredith.
MEDIA RELEASE : Four heritage artists from Samoa and American Samoa have this week returned from Australia where their works were showcased in “Ten Days on the Island,” a biennial statewide arts festival held in Lutruwita, also known as Tasmania.
The festival is a celebration of arts, culture, and community, showcasing artists and performers with the aims of fostering artistic innovation, community engagement, and meaningful connections with the cultural identity of Lutruwita and the Palawa people.
The returning artists included two siapo makers, Tusolo Aumale of Siutu, Savaii, Regina Meredith of Leone, American Samoa, dancer and environmental activist Folole Tupuola of Siumu, and Galumalemana Steve Percival who is a cultural heritage revivalist and documentarian based at the Tiapapata Art Centre.
This year, the festival features SA/MOA (translated as Sacred Centre), a multimedia exhibit coordinated by Lila Meleisea. SA/MOA is the culmination and first expression of a 3-year project exploring Samoan indigenous knowledge systems, environmental care and creative practices.
SA/MOA was Produced by Performing Lines, partnering with Moonah Arts Centre (MAC) and Ten Days on the Island, and was funded through Creative Australia, RANT and Arts Tasmania, supported by the Australian Government and the Tasmania State Government.
The core of this work seeks to strengthen bonds and connections between Lila’s two island homes.
SA/MOA is a collaboration with traditional Samoan makers, knowledge holders, musicians and contemporary artists from Samoa and Australia.
The initiative holds many threads that connect with and share Lila’s cultural learnings and community, both through her travels to Samoa, and through connecting with the Pasifika diaspora in her home of Lutruwita.
The exhibit included four siapo, traditional barkcloth art, that was loaned from the Tasmania Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG).
Tusolo Aumale points out where to paint natural dyes on a small siapo.
Alongside these pieces, collected over 100 years ago, were contemporary works of barkcloth art made using the same traditional process.
The recently made siapo were created by Lila Meleisea, Tusolo Aumale, Regina Meredith, and Su’a Uilisone Fitiao who was not able to join the group in Lutruwita.
The multi-faceted program of cultural art forms and practices included dialogue and workshops that embraced and encouraged inter-cultural exchange, community-building and learning.
A unique multi-dimensional work was also presented by Suga, a talented group of musicians comprising Grace Vanilau, Natalia Mann and Lila Meleisea, whose music animated exquisite dance sequences by Folole Tupuola.
Their innovative and sensorial approach was expressed through music, dance, spoken word, video and the practice of ‘resonance’ which lies at the heart of SA/MOA.
Galumalemana spoke on the revival of cultural memory through a case study of Rock-Paper-Scissors, a recently implemented project funded under the ACP-EU Enhancing capacity for the sustainability of Cultural and Creative Industries in the Pacific Project (CCIP).
He exhibited a hafted stone adze and a number of pa-alo- atu, trolling lures made in the traditional style of these once vital fishhooks.
Also on display were hardwood fans and combs made by heritage artists at the Tiapapata Art Centre, objects that can only be seen in museums around the world.