Samantha Magick

Boris Toucas: Ballpoint pen artist By Alipate Pareti With simple strokes of a humble ballpoint pen, Boris Toucas is bringing Suva to life in the pages of his sketchbook. The 40-year-old former French diplomat now resides in Fiji, where he is inspired by the beauty of landscapes, city skylines and people within the environment. In […]

The Suva foreshore is abuzz with excitement as the site of the MSME Festive Market this week.  The three-day event is co-organised by the MSME Council, Knox Entertainment, and the ROC Market, with 76 local businesses participating.  Ellana Kalounisiga of Knox Entertainment, says the aim for the event is to “enable vendors to earn income […]

Fiji Airways has launched its inaugural direct flight between Nadi, Fiji, and Dallas Fort Worth, Texas – the airline’s longest route to date. The airline says this strengthens its connectivity across North America and reinforces its commitment to expanding global travel opportunities for its passengers. The service will initially operate three times per week (on […]

By Ema Ganivatu Fiji Airways offers free messaging Wi-Fi Fiji Airways now provides free full-flight messaging Wi-Fi for Economy Class passengers on Airbus A350 and Boeing 737MAX planes. The new service allows travellers to use messaging apps for the entire flight without extra charges. Business Class passengers will still enjoy full Wi-Fi access for browsing. […]

By Kite Pareti Pioneering electric bike sharing venture, Qaqi Mai will soon bring its services closer to communities across Fiji.  Company founder Eliki Dakuitoga says this will begin in November, starting in Suva and Nausori before extending to Nadi and other key locations. Earlier this month Qaqi Mai held two test drive campaigns, and the […]

By Aisha Azeemah A book to champion the very existence of books was launched in Suva last week at the Samabula Campus Art Gallery of the University of Fiji. A compendium of the experiences of those Pacific thinkers whose paths have been determined by reading, the book Moveable Magic: Re-making the World, according to its […]

By Sanjeshni Kumar, Pasifika Environews In the lush forests of Fiji, the Red-throated Lorikeet (Charmosyna amabilis), known locally as the Kulawai, was once a familiar sight. This small, shy bird, easily distinguished by its striking red throat and vibrant green plumage, flitted among the islands of Viti Levu, Vanua Levu, Ovalau, and Taveuni. But today, […]

A Super Rugby festival in the islands By Alipate Pareti This year, the Fijian Drua home fans have been able to cheer on their sides in person, and there are two more opportunities to do so before the final whistle blows on the season. Whether it is at Suva’s HFC Bank Stadium or Lautoka’s Churchill […]

Spartan Race CEO Russell Nelms hopes to double the number of people participating in the Fiji event this year, and its value to the local economy. Russell Helms says the event injected FJ$6.2 million into the economy in its inaugural year, and about 3000 people took part in the races across various categories. He believes there […]

Rain did not deter Suva dogs and their humans from supporting the SPCA and the Tim Howick-Smith 1000 Paws Walk today at Albert Park. The event celebrates Howick-Smith’s life and passion for ending cruelty to animals. The festival today celebrated all dogs owned and unowned. Dogs lapped Albert Park with their owners, competed in a […]

By Ben Wheeler Movie Review: The Fall Guy I do love the Courier font. I think it looks cool. It reminds me of my old typewriter, and it reminds me of movie scripts, which are always written in Courier or one of its variations. It has connotations of control – each character and each space […]

By Ben Wheeler Zendaya is, to quote Jacobim Mugatu, so hot right now. She’s in the MCU and she’s in the Duniverse. She’s prolific beyond her acting career, and yet very selective about the jobs she takes. She is currently, across the internet, accused of “being in everything” – a sure sign of success – […]

By Ben Wheeler Buyer beware! This is not an addendum to the already bloated Marvel Cinematic Universe! I repeat: Not! A! Marvel! It is instead a sporadically shockingly violent, surreal and contemplative blend of road movie and war movie from indie studio A24, and their most expensive film to date. As a cinematic experience that […]

By Prerna Priyanka Fijian storyteller and climate activist, Fenton Lutunatabua, is gearing up for the premiere of his debut film ‘Vakaraitaka’ at the Maoriland Film Festival in March. The festival, now in its 11th year, is New Zealand’s premier international Indigenous Film Festival, and provides a platform for diverse voices and perspectives. ‘Vakaraitaka’ is a […]

By Ben Wheeler Take one Swedish pop band – the finest you can find – add a hint of the Italian language, a Greek setting, a universal tale of love lost, and a quest for identity. Bring to the boil with an Irish Australian director and sprinkle liberally with Fijian talent – you can find […]

By Samantha Magick On the Suva seawall at Nasese, a huge heart faces out to sea. The site of the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Hospital, it is a symbol of the passion a family and the community they have built, have brought to caring for Pacific children with congenital heart defects. Established by the […]

Rarotonga-based filmmaker and playwright, Glenda Tuaine’s short film, Taonga: An Artist Activist, will be screened for the first time in Fiji today at the third Pacific Human Rights Film Festival. The 15-minute short film is about Mike Tavioni, a renowned Cook Islands master carver, vaka builder, painter, poet and activist. Tuaine’s first encounter with Mike […]

Shakil Zoro Bhamji, better known as Zoro, was an entrepreneur at an early age, selling fruit  by the roadside in Ba  to pay for his school fees and supplies. “I used to see all the ladies from across the village sell their mangoes on the roadside. So during school holidays and weekends, I used to […]

Surf’s UpThe elite World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour is back in Fiji. The grand event will see the top surfers in the world return to Cloudbreak, a well-known spot for perfect waves near Tavarua Island. It will be the last event to help decide the WSL Final 5, ahead of the one-day WSL Finals […]

In a cheeky campaign fronted by Wallabies legend, Lote Tuqiri, Australians have been invited to become ‘Flying Fijians’ and support Fiji’s efforts at the Rugby World Cup. Australia has missed out on the quarter-finals at the tournament in France, but Fiji’s team is through for the first time in 16 years, despite a narrow defeat […]

Review: Ben Wheeler Around a century ago in Hollywood, a Golden Age of filmmaking began that lasted almost four decades. Francis Ford Coppola, director of some of the greatest films of the “New Hollywood” period that followed, believes we may be on the cusp of a New Golden Age after the huge box office and […]

A new exhibition opened last weekend at Lancaster Press Fiji, in the hills of Malaqereqere, just near Sigatoka, featuring the efforts of local and international artists working in various mediums, including lithography, the medium in which artist and press founder, Peter Lancaster, specialises. Speaking at the opening, Lancaster said the artist and printing studios, residency […]

In a glass room at Suva’s Grand Pacific Hotel, a frangipani tree wrought from glinting metal and glowing glass is growing from the ceiling this weekend. In another corner of this temporary exhibition space, a school of iridescent copper mahimahi swirls around blue glass waves and delicate clear glass fish, while birds constructed of bronze […]

The Pacifique Artisans Collective is Suva’s newest business incubator that “allows an equal playing field for emerging designers and accessory makers,” says Shakira Macdonald. It is located at the Suva Flea Market, a popular space for small businesses since 1995, which has recently undergone a facelift and upgrade. The PAC houses unique clothing lines such […]