With outer island communities making their way to Funafuti to share their culture, stories and knowledge, Tuvalu’s first Arts Festival is already in the air.
The Fakaapo Tuvalu Arts Festival was to open earlier last week, but the organisers were left to delay the opening to 28 August due to heavy rain and rough seas, which prevented delegations from the outer islands from travelling safely by ship to the Festival.
Organisers have extended the lead-up to the festival, rather than cancelling it, with events for early arrivals and international guests who were unable to alter travel plans.
Delegates from the outer islands of Tuvalu, which include the southern islands of Vaitupu, Nukufetau and Nukulae, are still the “gold and centrepiece of Tuvaluan culture“, organiser Marama T-Pole tells PMN Tuvalu.
“There are some that are coming in for the festival for which they can’t move schedules.”
“In some ways, we are extending the festival, so we’re very fortunate that we do that.”
The 5-day festival is Tuvalu’s first national cultural festival and will bring Tuvaluan arts and heritage to the heart of the events that will take place on reclaimed land in Funafuti.
That’s also traditional knowledge, which the organisers have captured via video and digitised to enable young Tuvaluans to learn directly from their elders.
The festival is also providing Tuvaluans and others from the Pacific with an opportunity to share their own stories.
Former Commonwealth Poet Laureate and Professor of English at the University of Auckland, Professor Selina Tusitala Marsh, delivered writing workshops at Tuvalu Secondary School and a reading of her book Mop Head in the Tuvalu convention centre.
The visit is particularly meaningful for T-Pole as Marsh is Tuvaluan, Sāmoan and Palagi, she says.
“She is Tuvaluan, Sāmoan and Palagi – we are very excited to have her here. This is her first time coming to Tuvalu,” says T-Pole.
“Poetry is not just a Western thing. We’re good at it; we can write a hymn – that’s in our blood – that’s us. Selena’s here to add to that, and we’re really excited to have her here.”
Acting and directing masterclasses led by the Pasifika Film Fest team, including actor Marie Chanel and director Leki Jackson-Bourke, have also been going on.
One of the key aspirations of the festival is to provide the means by which Pacific people can tell their own stories for T-Pole.
“It’s really exciting; we get visitors to Tuvalu regularly, and they tell our story. Our story is then taken to the world. So who’s telling that story?”
“So as Tuvalu or Pasifika people, we really need to tell our stories, and this is a great opportunity we have been given, so I’m really grateful for that.”
The extended programme also involved a Moana Tasi short film on climate mobility, a meeting of island leaders and a presentation by Creative New Zealand-supported diaspora artists, such as Ululau Ama.
In preparation for last year’s festival, T-Pole said they made videos and digitised traditional skills of carving and navigating to allow the younger generation to learn directly from elders.
With the seas tamed enough for the main celebrations this week to commence, Funafuti is now ready to officially open the Arts Festival on Friday 28 August.
