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Taveuni guide

Fiji Gallery Guide
The Oceania Centre, detail from an exhibition at the University of Fiji gallery, Peter Lancaster at work at Lancaster Press.

Where to discover Fiji's contemporary artists

While there is a lot of excitement and expectation building around the new national art gallery, there are a
few other places to see contemporary art around the country. And at some of these locations, like Sigavou
Studios and Lancaster Press, you can even get out the brushes or pencils yourself.

The Oceania Centre at the University of the South Pacific Hau’ofa’s vision was for recognition of Oceanic cultures and
The Oceania Centre is one of the Pacific Island region’s most respect for their art as the “surest way of securing our autonomy”.
important centres for visual and performing arts. At the opening of a Red Wave exhibition in Sydney, he added:
The Centre, which is in the heart of the USP’s Laucala campus, “We are not interested in imitating [western art] and asking our
first opened in 1997 and its first artists included Lauan master artists to perform dances for tourists. It is time to create things for
carver Paula Lingairua, painter Lingikoni Vaka’uta (who spent ourselves, create and establish standards of excellence which
ten years as artist in residence) and sculptor Ben Fong. match those of our ancestors.”
The Centre fertilised the Red Wave Collective, which saw the That vision endures in the new and established artists whose
emergence of artists who worked heritage motifs and images work regularly appears in the Centre’s exhibition space, and the
into contemporary settings. other cultural and academic activities it supports.
The original Red Wave artists—many of whom are still The Blue Wave Artists Collective Exhibition is on at the
practicing—have since been joined by the Blue Wave Collective, Oceania Centre until Friday November 29. Exhibiting artists are:
a new generation of Pacific artists inspired and connected by Ulamila Bulamaibau, Nick Rollings, Nancy Sharma, Kristi Kaajal,
the ocean. Art-ueta Rabuka, Su Elliott and KV Vosa.
The Oceania Centre’s founder and father, the late Epeli Oceania Centre

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