Two Weddings, One Love
Jona and Henrietta Nabalarua knew very early on that they would spend forever together. They celebrated their love with family and friends not once, but twice, at a ceremony in Auckland and then in Suva, Fiji. Both ceremonies, vastly different in protocols, brought two beautiful cultures and families together.
Jona was considered a bachelor at 26 and his parents Diba and Roko were very excited to start planning the wedding in Suva, Fiji. For Henrietta’s parents, their engagement after three months came as a surprise, but ultimately both families were extremely happy and supportive of the couple.
Hosted by Jona’s family, the ceremony in Fiji took place over three days. For the Adams family, this would be their first ever authentic experience in Fiji, seeing first hand how a traditional Fijian ceremony is carried out. The first day saw Jona’s family bring food and gifts to his parents’ home.…more
Pacific Touch NYC
Nestled in the towering city of Manhattan lies a Polynesian paradise. Founder Nichola Weir brings the islands to New York with Pacific Touch NYC; an acclaimed day spa dedicated to holistic skin healing.
While in New York I was fortunate enough to visit Pacific Touch and receive an incredible skin treatment from Nichola who also shared her experiences and knowledge with me.
“Pacific Touch is about bringing the islands back to Manhattan. It’s about conveying everything that is comforting to me about being Polynesian into a service over here.” - Weir.
Having previously suffered from bad acne for 15 years, as well as her mum working in beauty therapy, Nichola has always been passionate about skin and healing. Her holistic approach with Pacific Touch has been a life changing experience for many of her clients.
“I have a client who was in a really bad accident and she nearly died. She had a huge amount of facial reconstruction and she came to me for a really long time and we did massage and facial work.…more
PRIDE FESTIVAL
Saturday 3rd Feb, 8pm
FAF SWAG host a Vogue Ball to kick off a new online Interactive Documentary that features stories of the collective, at the Auckland Art Gallery on Weds Feb 7th.
Celebrating our Pasifika Female Directors
Celebrating our Pasifika Female Directors on #FemaleFilmMakerFriday!
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SIMA URALE
Sima Urale has worked in the creative industry from theatre to film and television for more than 30 years, initially as a professional actor in theatre, and then in the last 25 years as a freelance filmmaker. She is a highly regarded filmmaker with extensive experience in drama and acting, writing and developing screenplays, to directing numerous films from drama to documentary, TV commercials, music videos, and corporate videos. She has also been a mentor for emerging filmmakers, and a part time Senior Lecturer at Unitec’s Film & TV School. From 2012 to 2015, she was Head Tutor at the New Zealand Film & Television School in Wellington.
Sima has been the recipient of several international awards, as artist in residence at Hawaii University, McMillian Brown Center at Canterbury University, and the COCA arts residency at Massey University. Sima is currently developing various feature length projects with producers and hopes to embark on another feature film in the near future whilst taking care of her elderly mother.…more
Parris Goebels Grammys choreography
Check out Rihanna's performance at the Grammys with DJ Khaled & Bryson Tiller for their hit "Wild Thoughts" and the dance choreography which was thanks to our girl Parris Goebel!!!
She said on Facebook "Always blessed when I get to work with Rihanna"
& she tweeted this after the performance:
One Samoan Identity to Rule Them All?
By Patrick Thomsen
Identity is of grave importance for all who are thrust into the mystifying space of diaspora existence. As a child of a very Samoan family, much like others in our community who made their way to New Zealand during the late 70s and 80s in search of economic prosperity, the question of what it means to be a ‘real’ Samoan has haunted me my entire existence.
Judging from the repetitive, voracious arguments on social media around cultural authenticity, it’s a question that haunts many of my fellow Samoans too. And finding the answer to this question has proven harder than finding a needle in a tatau themed haystack.
On Samoa’s treasured islands, passage into adulthood has been marked for centuries through the bestowing of a pe’a or malu onto an individual.…more
A Kiwi-Poly in the Big Apu
I always knew I would find myself in New York at some point in my life, and here I am amidst the hustle and bustle, soaking up everything this magnificent city has to offer.
Being from Aotearoa with Samoan blood, I find myself among the very small percentage of Pasifika people in New York. Though the Big Apple is undoubtedly one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, the island presence is somewhat scarce.
When confronted with the questions I'm so frequently asked; “Where are you from?” and “What are you?”, I’m no longer surprised at the lack of familiarity with our corner of the world. Many people are still under the impression New Zealand is a part of Australia, and the majority have no perception of the pacific islands at all, unless I use Hawai’i as a reference.
Explaining Aotearoa, the islands and my mixed ethnicity is always something I have to go into depth with, and usually people are interested enough to keep listening.…more
HUMANS OF THE ISLANDS: 'JPG'
Jnr Tanielu / 'JPG' aka 'juxtapose'
Creative
Samoan
I am a multidisciplinary creative. Initially I started as a self taught digital illustrator/ graphic designer, then I made a transition into the art form of painting. I like using various mediums but as of late, acrylics have been my go-to. My artworks are inspired by my interests and memories as a youth of the 90s era.
Both my parents are Samoan, they moved to New Zealand in the mid 70's. We grew up in South Auckland and later moved to West Auckland when I started school.
When/how did you realise you wanted to pursue a career as an artist?
As the youngest growing up and being the only boy with four sisters, I spent a lot of time drawing, skating, and gaming to keep myself occupied. You know just doing my own thing, that’s where I first discovered my interest in art. Art was like the only thing I really engaged with as a student and it stuck with me through my teenage years.…more
SAMOA CUP BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT 2018
Basketball teams from Samoa, Australia and New Zealand came together for the 3 Day Samoa Cup Basketball Tournament in Auckland last week (3rd - 5th Jan 18). It's an annual tournament open to all Samoans to participate and for the first time since the tournament started 4 years ago, invitational teams representing the Cook Islands and Tonga (NZ based) participated.
Divisions included Under 16s, Under 19s and Open teams for both Men and Women held at Pulman Arena in South Auckland with the purpose of uniting Samoan players to compete against each other for spots in teams which will be selected in upcoming FIBA events and even to represent Samoa at the Commonwealth games should they qualify.
When the tournament first started 4 years ago there were only 7 teams competing, last year there were 20 and this year it more than doubled with over 40 teams entered boosted by overseas team entries - 5 teams came over from Samoa as well as teams from Samoa Basketball Australia - Victoria, NSW and Queensland.…more
"The Greatest Showman" Coco review
The Greatest Showman.
Whats better than seeing your aunty, I mean a bearded lady at your family xmas party?
Seeing a bearded lady at the movies! In this case in "The Greatest Showman", The PT Barnham tale of how the modern day circus came to be.
Hugh Jackman returns to his musical roots with a performance worthy of White Sunday praise. Not only does he play the lead in this sometimes funny and sometimes exciting musical, but he also reminds you of just how white teeth can be. It makes you close your lips for the whole movie.
Dental whites aside, Hugh "Whiteteeth" Jackman and cast do a wonderful job of stitching together 90 mins of song and dance.
Ironically it does feel like one of Jackman’s earlier movies, the X men - A group of misfits come together to find a place where they can belong and call home, a bald man in a wheel chair houses them all and calls them the Xmen - Which is exactly what PT Barnham did to create the first ever circus.…more