They recently blogged about how the props department for Star Wars used wooden Fijian war clubs to make weapons for one of its characters.

Gaderffii or gaffi stick used by the Tusken Raider from Star Wars and a Fijian war club, ‘Totokia’

How many other cultures out there can lay claim to having a hand in the signature look of one of the most well known and beloved movies of all time? Well…perhaps quite a few. Fair enough. But finding out that your own culture was part of that influence? Major geek squeel moment.… Read more over at Failed Paradise here

via Failed Paradise

who: Mario Basilio, Store Manager for Va Bene, an Italian wine and gourmet store in Suva

affiliations: Rotuma/Fiji

fan: Handmade woven dried coconut leaves fan by my mother is my identity accessory.

home decor: This art piece mirror by George Evans of Smashing Art Fiji was a house warming gift. I love the fact that he glues the broken mirror on the edges as deco. He never reveals to me the secret of how he does that. So it’s like a mystery mirror.

jewellery: I had my ear pierced in Sydney about four years ago and its one of those ear holes where you have to stretch so it took me awhile to get the size I wanted. The earring was a gift. The piece is a handmade black coral, oblong in shape with an open end.

clothes: I love bright and loud personality in clothes. The AX Armani Exchange pink cashmere sweater was a gift from Samson Lee to compliment my personality. The scarf was a thrift store find here in Suva – also by AX Armani Exchange. I love it because of the mixture of colours and print, and also the fine detailed ruffles on the edge.

Vale ni style means ‘house of style’ in Fijian. This Urban Viti column features stylish Pasifika guests who give us a glimpse into their closets and homes. Check  out more vale ni style’s here.

One wall is full of postcards and exhibition flyers, mostly thanks to Ema Tavola and Fresh Gallery Otara.  Bottom L-R: Andy Warhol style photobooth photo of myself and postcard from Andy Warhol exhibition at GoMa; Close-up of Jumping Castle War Memorial by Brook Andrew; Close-up of Postcard of Unsettled Earth Pylon City (2006) by Ema Tavola; Fresh Gallery Otara exhibition flyer from 23 Jan- 14 Feb 2009.

Suva City till infinity! I made the Suva City canvas print from Chinese paper cut alphabets; Feathers – I collect them as I find them on my walks to and from work; I collected the elephants by chance. The silver one is a tea leaf strainer I bought, the littlel red one I found on the ground one morning on my way to work and the bigger Indian looking one I got from the Victoria Park Market in Auckland – one of the store holders gave it away for free; The Māori waka (canoe) I got from Auckland.

Darwin’s PASIFIKA 2012 Calendar | $AU29.99
February : “Skin deep – the marks of my identity run through to the womb”

Head over to

www.darwinspasifika.com

and order your copy today!

who: Neisau Tuidraki, Freelance Communications Specialist/Blogger

affiliations: Fiji

 clothes: Being plus size in Fiji makes it hard to shop but having said that Fiji is also the best place to get unique pieces done because there are tailors galore here. The trick is to find a tailor that actually knows how to sew. My husband is from the Cook Islands, so I get a steady supply of beautiful Cook Island prints. My latest piece is a versatile tube dress that can be worn as one – shouldered or off the shoulder. I incorporated some lovely blue Cook Island prints on the frills. It’s super comfy and I love the frills.

jewellery: I am an accessories person. Earrings and rings specifically, I have jewellery boxes full of the stuff. But my absolute favourite piece is my mother of pearl ring that was hand made by a French jeweller that was based here in Fiji some time ago. It was love at first sight for me, the odd shape and beautiful silver spoke to me. I bought it 10 years ago and I wear it with everything.

The blue swirl earrings I bought for $10 from the jewellery cart across from Vodafone at MHCC. As you can see, blue is my fave colour. I try to work it to my wardrobe somehow. A good pair of earrings is the easiest and cheapest way to glam an outfit, they’re a great way to spotlight my eyes and face. I love huge disc earrings, they are my signature style and when I saw this pair, I was hooked.

Vale ni style means ‘house of style’ in Fijian. This Urban Viti column features stylish Pasifika guests who give us a glimpse into their closets and homes. Check  out more vale ni style’s here.

Hosted by Pacific Islands Trade & Invest, Maketi Ples opens 22 February at the Global Gallery in Paddington, Sydney (Australia).

The opening exhibition will feature contemporary Pacific islands fine art and artisan works in a variety of mediums from the Cook Islands,  Federated State of Micronesia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands,  and Tonga.

Some of the artists featured:

Agnes Posanai-Tarebo from Papua New Guinea
with tapa Cloth and tapa products

Visual artist Kay George from the Cook Islands

Bilum weaver extraordinaire, Florence Jaukae Kamel from Papua New Guinea

Head over to the Maketi Ples website (http://www.maketiples.com/) and check out the other artists/artisans. They also have a Facebook Event Page here.

Maketi Ples 2012

 23 February-11 March 2012
Global Gallery, 5 Comber St, Paddington, NSW, Australia

Open from 10am – 6pm.

Special Events :

Wednesday, 22 February 2012.  6 – 8 pm
Preview Event & Opening of Maketi Ples 2012

Thursday, 23 February 2012. 6 – 8 pm
Private Function – Women Chiefs of Enterprise International and launch of Statement Journeys

Saturday, 25 February 2012. 1pm– 4 pm          
Artists Talks :
Kay George – Visual Artist, Cook Islands
John Maileseni – Weaver, Kingdom of Tonga
Tessa Miller – Visual Artist, Fiji Islands
Martin Morububuna – Visual Artist, Papua New Guinea (tbc)
Peter Leo Ella – Visual Artist, Papua New Guinea (tbc)
Festival of Pacific Arts – Solomon Islands artists (tbc)

Maketi Ples 2011

Source and images via Maketi Ples

who: Andrew Douglas, Contributing writer for Macaulay & Maestro (www.macandmae.com); Studying Fashion Design at The Auckland University of Technology

affiliations: Papua New Guinea/New Zealand

bag: Being from Papua New Guinea, I have an affinity with bilums. Bilums are hand-made string bags from Papua New Guinea that have so many uses, from carrying babies to kumara and coconuts. This particular one was given to me as a gift from my bubu (grand-mother) and is quite modern with a much longer handle. It’s made from synthetic wool which is different to the traditional bilums. I really love the contrast between the grey marl and fluro green.

diy: One of the greatest joys in my life is attending music festivals and concerts. I also see it as an opportunity to get rather creative with my outfits. In 2011, M.I.A. was performing at Big Day Out and being such a huge fan I had to wear something that was inspired by her. She released the song XXXO that year which was how I came about with the design for this t-shirt. I wanted something bright and colorful that would stand out in the Boiler Room where she performed so I splattered fluro fabric paint on it, Jackson Pollock style.

shoes: My favourite shoes are definitely my black tobe high-tops which I have had for over three years. tobe is a New Zealand brand from Wellington and the shoes are hand-made from Whanganui leather. They’re so comfortable and versatile as they can be worn as high or low top shoes. I love wearing them with a great pair of skinnies either tucked into the shoes or over the tops.

Vale ni style means ‘house of style’ in Fijian. This Urban Viti column features stylish Pasifika guests who give us a glimpse into their closets and homes. Check  out more vale ni style’s here.

Vale ni style means ‘house of style’ in Fijian.

Inspired by Oh Joy’s Closet & Casa column, this new Urban Viti post series will feature stylish Pasifika guests who will give us a glimpse into their closets and homes.

Stay tuned for the first vale ni style with a fashion design student who is also a contributing writer for a New Zealand online magazine.

In the meantime, have a look at my previous blog post Pasifika styles | Mustard + tapa, which features my tapa shoes and Hawaiian pua styled mustard skirt in the above photo.

I’m loving these hand-woven leather pillows from LanceWoven. Don’t they look like woven pandanus mats! Loving the colour combinations and names as well – the one above on the right is called British Invasion Pomegrante!

LanceWoven leather pillows : Hudson-Princess; Normandy-Tahiti; Watercolor-Sky; Bling bling-Bronze; The Hadley-Storm; Hudson-Luggage

In August 2011 performance artist Shigeyuki Kihara travelled to Germany with the support of the Visitor’s program from the Goethe-Institut to investigate museum archives held across Germany to research materials related to the German administration of Samoa from 1900 till 1914.

Kihara’s presentation accompanied by a power point presentation traces the historical footprints of several groups of Samoans including men, women and small children who travelled and toured extensively across cities in Germany including Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and Cologne where they were exhibited in a zoo – a practise commonly known as ‘Völkerschau’ a popular form of exotic entertainment and colonial theatre at the time.

The title of the presentation Culture for Sale is the same title of a live public performance and multimedia installation conceived by Kihara staged during the Sydney Festival in January 2012. You can see photos from the performance here on the Edge of Elsewhere blog.

Conceptually informed by the Samoan participation in the ‘Völkerschauen’, Culture for Sale explores the close relationship between performance, identity, power and money.

The presentation will discuss how Samoan identity as ‘the other’ was contextualised under German colonialism, and whether the surrounding ideas of ‘the other’ continues to resonate in the daily lives of Samoan people in the so called ‘post-colonial’ era in the wake of the 50th Anniversary of the Independence of Samoa in June 2012.

Culture for Sale: a Post-Colonial Völkerschau

Presentation by Shigeyuki Kihara

When: Sunday 19 February, 2012. 2pm

Duration: 45 minute talk and 15 minute Q & A

Where: PATAKA Museum of Arts and Cultures
Cnr Parumoana & Norrie Street
Porirua, Wellington, New Zealand

www.pataka.org.nz

http://shigeyukikihara.wordpress.com/

Source and image: Pataka

South Auckland Poest Collective are a group Pacific Island and Maori poets, writers and performers from around South Auckland.

A spoken words event, The Anatomy of Poetry will explore gender and relationships as they discuss their experiences, opinions and questions on these topics.

All proceeds from this event will go towards the last 3 flights needed to realise their dream of attending The Brave New Voices Conference 2012 in San Francisco.

If you can’t attend, I’m sure they’ll be happy to receive a donation.

The Anatomy of Poetry

When: Thursday 23 February, 2011 | 7:30pm
Where: Mangere Arts Centre – Ngā Tohu o Uenuku
Corner Orly Ave and Bader Drive, Mangere Town Centre
Auckland, New Zealand

Tickets cost: $NZ15.00

For tickets contact:
Mangere Arts Centre – Ngā Tohu o Uenuku
Phone: 09 262 5789
Email: mangereartscentre@manukau.govt.nz

The Anatomy of Poetry is part of the Pacific Finge 2012.

South Auckland Poets Collective on the Kokonut wireless:

South Auckland Poets Collective website: http://sapcnz.homestead.com

The Anatomy of Poetry Facebook Event Page: http://www.facebook.com/events/349939965025911/

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/SthAkPoetsCollective/feed

Email: sapc@hotmail.co.nz

Source and image via The Anatomy of Poetry Facebook Event Page