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Ema Tavola - MIT Visual Arts Student

Naca Nabunobuno

12 November 2003

Ema Tavola - MIT Visual Arts student.

Ema Tavola is a student at Manukau Institute of Technology, at the School of Art and Design.

She is studying towards a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVa) and is in her 2nd Year.

We caught up with Ema at the School's Open Day (Saturday 1st November 2003) where Ema was exhibiting her work.

Ema talks about her installation...

What is this work about?

My artwork is often commenting on my reflections from living in Suva during the May 2000 hostage-taking. For this work I was primarily concerned with the tabua as a form I am interested in conceptually and visually. I began to think about Fijian value and my perception of its changes and impact on my life. I learnt from reading an extract from The Fijian Ethos of the genderised nature of the tabua, being yau vakaturaga. It is my impression that the gun, as proved by Rabuka's actions in May 1987, also embodies a great deal of modern-day power and value and is also a particularly male object. I wanted to explore the place of the gun in indigenous rights and sovereignty in Fiji whilst reflecting on the gender equation in the Fijian ideology.

Visually it was easy to find images of guns in Fiji. In the May 2000 hostage-taking we experienced guns in our day-to-day life, with soldiers at every road block brandishing AK-47s, George Speight's armed supporters or media dubbed "rebels" swung M-16s around so casually. I left Suva for Wellington in August that year... I found following the situation back home through the New Zealand media really frustrating because all that was shown visually of Fiji was these images of guns. I chose to show my video compositions on a television because I wanted to emphasise these media associations. I manipulated the news format using repetition, voice-overs and actual reports from New Zealand journalists covering the coup, I wanted to mix up the New Zealand media's message of "Indigenous Uprising: Beware!" to project my own message, as portrayed through the video compositions... it is my attempt to explore the underlying issues to this apparent gun culture that has adopted Fiji.

Through the video, the manipulation of speech (of George Speight and Commodore Frank Bainimarama) is indicative of my questioning of these representatives of Fijian authority. I repeat Speight's statement, "If it's the price that this generation has to pay here and now, then so be it, this generation is prepared to pay it" over footage of a young Fijian man watching closely a soldier with a large gun and another Fijian boy being dettained by Police. I am talking about Fijian men who have lived through two take-overs of government with guns (almost exactly thirteen years apart), and speculating the effect it is actually having on this sector of society, who are literally tomorrow's leaders.

Former government minister Filipe Bole said that there is a glaring flaw in our Fijian society today. It seems that fragmentation of traditional Fijian leadership means that Fijians rule but are not united. It was in fact my most interesting discovery from the research I did to find out about Fijian provincialism, which I found to be much like what I know of that of Maori. Victoria University Pacific Studies Professor, Teresia Taeiwa said, �The problem with Fijian nationalism is that there is no Fijian nation.�

In the hegemony of the male cultural model, we as women must always be aware of what is thwarting the healthy growth of our young men as it will inevitably affect us in some way. Mental illness and suicide for example has been related to traditional models of masculinity in the Pacific, it is said that men are less likely to seek treatment for depression and are more likely to resort to substance abuse and violence. And women are over-represented amongst victims of crime and violence. These coups have been so destructive to the nation, our economy and to our people... Fijians, Indo-Fijians and every other person who lives in Fiji (not to mention the Fiji diaspora).

Through this experimental exploration of mise-en-scene, placing objects in actual space to suggest an environment rather than making traditional sculptural objects, I feel I am talking about real life-size issues, contemporary issues that I have a personal affiliation with. I wanted to make a male space to present the video in to emphasise my understanding of where the problem lies. I built a dwelling, an environment suggestive of alcohol and substance abuse, loitering and general disenchantment. I want to project my interpretation of the highly publicised media imagery of the crisis of 2000, with my message, right into the heart of where the �problem� is nurtured, where there is a lack of proper housing, compulsory education measures and some form of national employment service, breeding violent and disillusioned indigenous Fijian youth who take on a profession of crime. And this effects everyone.

Ema in front of her exhibit.

Manukau Festival of Arts 08

Post by: Losalini in the Notices / Events forum.

Between 30 October and 17 November the Manukau Festival of Arts will showcase more than 30 exciting events around the city - exhibitions, youth events, music, dance, fashion, comedy and a film festival. All the details are on www.mfa.org.nz The Manukau Festival of Arts 08 is an inaugural event f...