23/10 - Fiji to participate at the
10th Festival of Pacific Arts
Press Release from Fiji Government online portal
Cabinet has approved Fiji’s participation at the 10th Festival of Pacific Arts to be held in American Samoa from the 23rd July to 2nd August 2008.
Cabinet based its decision on a submission by the Minister for Fijian Affairs, Heritage, Provincial Development & Multi Ethnic Affairs, Ratu Epeli Ganilau.
This festival is held every four years and the first one was hosted by Fiji and held in Suva in 1972. The last one, in 2004 was held in Palau.
Ratu Epeli explained that the Festival was developed as a forum for exchanging ideas and also as the Pacific peoples’ way of “working out how to give each other mutual help, to re-discover our cultures and strengthen our respective demands.”
He said the theme of the 10th Festival is “Threading the Oceanic Ula” which symbolises the interweaving of Pacific cultures through the interaction of its various cultural components and the warm and loving expectations of the coming celebrations.
“The Festival is an opportunity for Fiji to showcase its multiethnic and diverse cultures.
“It is also an opportunity for our artisans to show-case their knowledge and skills and to emphasise the importance of visual and performing arts as part of nation building.
“It will, as it has done over the years, be a catalyst too for further improvement and development of both the visual and performing arts in Fiji, providing as it does, a platform for exchanging views, ideas and experiences on this subject.”
Ratu Epeli said the Festival also offers the unique opportunity for the promotion and marketing and identifying new markets for our cultural products.
“It is also an opportunity to encourage mutual understanding and appreciation for other cultures, as a result of cultural exchanges and interactions.”
Ratu Epeli said Fiji’s participation through cultural exchange and interaction at the Arts Festival will foster our identity as members of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific and help to mainstream our cultural needs and identity in our development activities.
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