Males Teachers Rule the Art Rooms in Samoa

I did intend to keep a blog on my Visual Arts Research Project here in Samoa.

In the end it was such a short time frame to conduct the research that I scrapped the blog, so I thought I would show you what I found.

These wearable art pieces were created by boys in a school which includes the words "Welcome to the Jungle" on their school sign. The boy below did an impromptu Siva dance to display his wearable art for me.

The boys also carve blocks, this was used to print the uniforms of the teachers for the Independence Day march.

 Visual Art is a male dominated subject and all the art teachers I met were male.

I found much evidence of sustainable art making such as this coconut caterpillar.

A Bamboo and Coconut boat.

Stencils cut from hospital x-rays

Mosaics made from louvres painted with house paint on one side, broken or cut into shapes and glued with PVA onto a wooden board.

The student work was impressive and the teachers were generous with their time.

No more Old Regrets

During Independence, the Domestic Surf God made good on an old regret.  Over 20 years ago he had the opportunity to work back stage at a UB40 concert in Durban, South Africa and much to his dismay he turned it down.  He is not sure why and regretted ever since.

Obviously UB40 have shared this loss and tracked him down in Samoa, offering him the opportunity to be one of the big spotlighters for their Independence Day Concert in Samoa.  Concerts don't happen often here and the place was abuzz with Reggae love.

I was in the mosh pit with the revellers, it cost 25 tala (about $12 AUD).  The Samoan's knew all the words and joined in unison with their big voices.  I felt like I was having a heart attack, as the sound system vibrated through my chest. On the way out I had to run to acquire souvenirs for my little boys; blue light sabres, a popular accessory for the evening.

  

The night ended in a flurry of fireworks, a little late for kiddies though at 11pm.

The Vakas

The Polynesian people explored the oceans on Vakas, canoes with two sails.  

The boys and I were luckily enough to be invited on to one over the Independence weekend.

These beautifully carved and decorated vessels navigate by the stars and advocate sustainable ocean voyages.

The vaka Gaualofa was gifted by Germany to Samoa to mark the anniversary of Independence.