Videos

Fakataha Pasifika with Sopolemalama Filipe TohiFakataha Pasifika (weaving Pasifika together) is a 3-week celebration of the connections between Tonga, Hawai‘i, and the islands of the Pacific, through explorations – led by Sopolemalama Filipe Tohi – into the ancient art of lalava and its modern expressions.Sponsored by Pasifika Foundation Hawai‘i, the UH-Manoa Center for Pacific Island Studies, and Intersections (UH-Manoa Dept. of Art and Art History), Fakataha Pasifika will offer opportunities for students and community members to learn more about lalava, the traditional Pacific Island art form of lashing that was used to join and bind materials together.Tohi was born in Ngeleia, Nuku’alofa, Tonga, and emigrated to Aotearoa/New Zealand in 1978. He has been a full time artist and sculptor since 1992 and is firmly established as one of the leading contemporary Pacific visual artists. Working across a range of media, including stone, wood, steel and digital imagery, he seeks to expand upon and delve deeper into the mysteries of the art of lalava. His work transforms technology of the past into modern representations of identity and experience.In his presentations and workshops, Tohi demonstrates how these geometric patterns, formed by the layers of wrapped coconut sennit, were a well-established part of daily life, and he describes how the lalava patterns were a mnemonic device for representing a life philosophy. Lalava patterns, says Tohi, advocated balance in daily living and were metaphorical and physical ties to cultural knowledge.http://pasifikafoundationhawaii.org/Events/72/fakataha-pasifika-april-5-23-2010