Humans Of The Islands - Fez Fa'anana
Fez Fa'anana - aka Shivannah
Performing Artist
Australia
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The hilarious and internationally renowned boylesque troupe 'Briefs' is coming to Aotearoa for their brand new show 'Dirty Laundry' at the Q-Theatre in December 2023.
The show mixes circus, drag, dance, burlesque, music and comedy and will be sure to be the Christmas doo that everyone will want to do!
The show is led by the very talented Fez Fa'anana aka Shivannah who is not only the Director and Co-Founder but also the Choreographer, performer, collaborator and co-creator.
Fez Faanana says, “I was born in Aotearoa so it’s an extra special place for me and for Briefs Factory. We’ve been lucky enough to hit it off with Auckland audiences and after a little global interruption we are finally back at Q theatre with our biggest production with more boys, more feathers and more ridiculousness.”
See Dirty Laundry in action and grab tickets here when they go on sale on Friday 11th August at 12pm.
Google Translate now includes Samoan!
The Samoan Language is the latest language addition to the search engine's Language options, joining fellow Polynesian languages Maori and Hawaiian!
Source: 9to5Google
Today’s addition of 13 new languages brings the total number of languages Google Translate understands to 103. The update allows 120 million more people around the world to use the service and will be rolling out over the next couple of days to the web and mobile apps.
This year marks the 10 year anniversary of Google Translate launching. The 103 languages understood by the service covers 99% of the online population according to Google. The new languages are: Amharic, Corsican, Frisian, Kyrgyz, Hawaiian, Kurdish (Kurmanji), Luxembourgish, Samoan, Scots Gaelic, Shona, Sindhi, Pashto and Xhosa.
While a lot of machine learning is used to learn new languages, Google also relies on the Translate Community to improve current languages and add new ones. Over 3 million people have translated approximately 200 million words.…more
Much Furore over Formation
This week two afakasi forces of nature officially slayed online - Beyoncé’s supernova to the masses with ‘Formation’ and Parris Goebel, the superstar to the dance world with her wins at the World Dance Champs in Vegas.
The parallels between these two queens of their domain are many, as they rule and reign their legions of fans, manipulate media and astound the world with the breathtaking extent of their swag.
The internet has gone cray cray with arguments over Beyoncé’s statements of blackness / mixed raceness / should she be repping Katrina-ness.
While there is an obvious ‘invisible passport’ that both these women have as afakasi’s and the privilege that goes with the ‘high yella’, the power they negotiate through their cleverly wrought images works the confrontation of their ethnicity to the forefront.…more
The Top 10 Health Benefits of Guava
Despite being a tropical fruit with distinctive flavor and fragrance, the guava is also known for the various health-improving properties. What isn't common knowledge is that the bark and leaves are also useful to improving our health.
Source: Health Adore
The guava fruit is one of the least chemically treated and sprayed fruits, and is now easily available around the world. It's packed with vitamins and minerals - 4 times the Vitamin C of an oranges and 10 times more Vitamin A than a lemon. And that is not all; it also contains Vitamins B2, E and K, Calcium, Folate, Fiber, Copper, Iron, Potassium, Manganese and Phosphorus.
All around the world, it is used in cooking both sweet and savory dishes. Guava juice is also a refreshing beverage, and is also used in sauces, candies, jams and jellies.
Here are the top 10 health benefits of guava and guava leaves.
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Maintains Oral Health
With dental plaque being the principal factor in many oral health problems, guava comes as the solution.…more
Highlights from Sydney Sevens!
Check out some the amazing highlights from last weekend's thrilling Sevens Tournament over in Sydney - with New Zealand winning back to back!
Take a look at some of the uso's representing for our small island nations as they battled it out in the Sydney leg of the worldwide Sevens Tournament, the fourth of ten stops across the globe.
Image Credit: Benjamin Tapealava
Check out more on Facebook!
Violence against women in Pacific rates amongst worst in world
Violence against women surveys in the Pacific have shown that the incidence is the worst in the world with over 60 per cent of women and girls having experienced violence at the hand of an intimate partner or family member.
Humans Of The Islands - Gustavia Lui
Gustavia Lui
Samoan/Tuvaluan 28 years old
Owner of Staavias Footwear Company
I have big feet, I hate admitting it. I was walking in the office one day and the heel of my shoe snapped in half! My feet are size 11 and a half. I love to dress up but I could never find shoes my size. Whenever I’ve talked to other island girls, they all felt the same. So I thought, okay no one else is doing it, the way I want it. I’ll do it myself!
What was your first step towards getting in to the shoe making business?
Getting over my fear. I would’ve been up and running a lot earlier had I gotten over my fear a lot earlier. In 2013 I applied for the AMP Scholarship People’s Choice Award and got rewarded with the 2nd prize. I went to China and took my $1000 prize money and used it to buy me two foot moulds (they cost $500 each).…more
Hawaiian artist's debut in Aotearoa!
Up-and-coming Hawaiian artist Kiana Rivera (aka Kiki) debuts her latest play in NZ - co-written by award-winning NZ-Samoan playwright Victor Rodger and directed by Anapela Polataivao! She spoke to ArtistNet about taking the plunge overseas, and the importance of our stories being told.
How important is this story?
Personally, being able to write this story with such honesty is a huge personal feat, one that any person in my shoes could understand, so that for myself and other Pacific Island lesbian/queer community, it’s important. Itʻs also the first of it’s kind (representing lesbian Pacific Islanders) according to (writer/actor) Victor Rodger, so any pioneering effort in the Pacific Theatre community must be important by fulfilling a need, eh?
What is a significant moment in Pu**y that affirmed to you the relevancy of your play?
Without giving the entire story away, I’d say any moment in my process where I had to get over my insecurities and fears about any religious or familial consequences affirmed the relevancy of writing.…more
The benefits of Breadfruit, long time Poly super food!
Is this the new wonder food? Breadfruit is high in protein and has the potential to feed the world, experts say
- Breadfruit has lumpy green flesh and a potato-like texture
- It is widely eaten in the Pacific Islands and scientists are encouraging the planting of trees in countries with poor food security
- One breadfruit, which weighs around 7 lbs (3kg) provides the carbohydrate portion of a meal for a family of five
- It can be can be ground into flour and used to make pancakes
- The fruit is rich in vitamins and is a source of carbohydrate and protein
- The protein in the fruit has a higher proportion of aminio acids than soy
It may not be a fruit that you automatically reach for in the supermarket, but the large and exotic breadfruit is being touted as a wonder food.
Known by its Latin name, artocarpus altilis, the fruit has lumpy green flesh and a potato-like texture so that it can be served as part of a main meal or turned into sweets.…more
Tatau Traditions challenged in modern times
One of our most ancient Samoan traditions has vastly grown in practice over the last fifteen years, but some argue, it comes at the cost of its own sacredness.
Traditionally, the Tatau and Malu were meant for a highly selective group of people in certain Samoan families. But now with the huge number of Islanders around the globe, the ideas around who can get one and how to get one have changed with the times. With money and a bag of pain killers, can anyone have a Tatau or Malu?
The gifting of this measina Samoa has always come down to the discretion of the Tufuga.
There are many men with Tatau, but the title ‘Sogaimiti’ should be reserved for the real McCoy - a man who has received the malofie (ink) with the approval of his family elders and who has completed the process with a worthy partner (soa).…more