Artist Bio
l Kasa Cagiaceva l Lotulua Rakoroa l Pori Williams l Finau Mara l Adi Nacola l Oceania Storm l Rowena Taito l
Kasa Cagiaceva Kasa was born and raised on the island of Totoya in the Lau Group of Fiji but eventually moved to the country’s capital, Suva, to attend college. It was in Suva that she joined the dance theatre of Fiji which enabled her to travel overseas. In 1975 Kasa moved to New Zealand where she met and married her husband, a Fijian pastor and today they have six children, all currently working and studying. Kasa’s introduction into art started from childhood where weaving mats and belts from Pandanus leaves was a normal part of life. It was something she learnt from the older women. These mats and belts were then worn to school, church, important occasions or just simply worn around the village. “It was fun, it’s a good life” says Kasa of village life.
Lotolua is a Tongan lady who is married to a Rarotongan and it is this union that introduced her to the art of Mother-of-Pearl carving, turning this beautiful shell into pieces of unique jewellery. Lotolua grew up in Tonga before moving to New Zealand in 1988 where she eventually met her husband who was already designing and making jewellery from Mother-of-Pearl; a skill he had brought from Rarotonga. Lotolua learnt and together, husband and wife share the design process of Mother-of-Pearl necklaces. Her other skills also lie in Teivaivai making.
Pori, was born and raised in the Cook Islands and has been a Teivaivai artist from about 10years old. The skill of Teivaivai she learnt from her grandmother who was her influence, and teivaivai has always been a part of her life. “In my home, these (teivaivai) are the things in our life that we lived with and grew up with. Ladies in the village always had their groups, they would meet in the meeting houses to work on pieces of teivaivai”. “Now I do it as a hobby, as an interest to remember my grandmother; she was a very positive influence in my life.”
Finau, an artist from Fiji, is one of the most sought after Pacific Island artists for her great skill in basket weaving. Her products can be found in one or two big souvenir shops in the Fiji islands. She has been invited to many Pacific Island artist workshops around the world but her home base will always be her home island of Fiji.
Adi is a 28-year-old freelance photographer who was born and raised in the Fiji islands, and is currently based in the capital of Suva. Mostly self-taught, Adi discovered a passion in photographing people. Operating as Grasskirt Photoraphy, she specializes in weddings, portraiture and photo-journalism. Adi's photography will be for sale shortly on Pasifika Market so watch this space or sign up &be the first to know when her work is available! You can find Adi’s work on: http://www.flickr.com/photos/grasskirt/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/adinacola_weddings/
Oceania Storm Oceania Storm is a 11 piece band which was formed in 2006. The band performs covers and original music. It is made up of both young and experienced musicians from West Auckland. They have three unique lead vocalists (1 female and 2 males) which enables them to play a variety of music, such us popular hits from Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Rarotonga, and also from genres such as Rock, Reggae, Old School, RnB, Soul, Funk, and Blues. See their page for more info. Rowena Taito Rowena was born and raised in Suva but has been residing on the sunny side (Nadi) of Fiji for the last 3yrs with her husband, Riga Taito and two sons, Matia and Che. Her passion for creating things started when she learned to sew on her grandmothers old treadle machine at the tender age of 9. She has always designed and sewed clothes for herself as well as cushion covers, jewellery and more. The commercial side of things kicked off when she set up and ran a gift shop/boutique in Nadi town where she designed and made jewellery, bags, sulus, cushion covers and more. The shop was sold 6months later but 'Rourou Fiji' lives on creating and supplying customers such as Air Pacific, Wakaya Club, Tokoriki and more.