Page 28 - Fiji Traveller Issue 3

Painting a love song to Fiji

Sigavou Studios

By Sera Tikotikovatu-Sefeti

Entering Sigavou Studios is a
surprising experience. Located in a light
industrial area in Nadi, a beautiful mural
outside hints at what is to come. The
steps you ascend relay a motivational
message, and when you get to the top,
you are greeted with an explosion of
colours.
The founder, Maria Rova, is of
American-German descent. "I'm a
primary school teacher by profession,
but I've always loved being creative,"
she told us.
Rova’s childhood was no fairytale;
she grew up with a single mom, so life
was not always easy. A good escape
for her and her siblings was gathering
sticks and stones, making sculptures,
and doing all kinds of creative things
to occupy their time. "Especially during
birthdays, when there was never any
pocket money to go and buy presents,
I would just embroider handkerchiefs for
my friends," she recalls.
This natural ability to solve problems
helped her later in life, particularly in Fiji.
"I would notice art supplies that were
there this month, were not there the
following month, and of course there are
no art shops, and even the materials that
I could buy were really poor Chinese-
made quality and hard to use.
"So we had a traditional Fijian wedding
ceremony and from there, we got a
long white piece of masi gifted from our
families from Vatulele. I started to cut
a little piece out and started painting
it, trying it out with some pieces, and I
realised just how beautiful the canvas
was."
So started the use of barkcloth in
most of her paintings, solving the issue
of finding canvases to paint on. The
significance of using masi or tapa is
rooted in local culture and the Fijian
Maria Rova

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