Sunday, 27 July 2008
A few days ago, here at the 10th Festival of Pacific Arts, the Chair of the Creative Arts Committee, Tialuga Saloti, told me that the events would have quite an impact on young people in American Samoa. She felt there would be a renewed sense of pride in their Samoan culture after they witnessed young people from other countries in the Pacific showcasing their cultures. It was certainly something I had thought about as, prior to arriving here, I tried to make sense of the American Samoan identity.
What I hadn’t anticipated was how much impact the festival would have on some of the young people I encountered.
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Saturday, 26 July 2008
It’s one of those ironies of festival organising. Committees, chairpersons and volunteers spend months planning schedules. Yet, the most memorable moments are the spontaneous performances and exchanges.
And at the 10th Pacific Festival of the Arts in Pago Pago, if there is one thing I am fretting about at the moment, it’s that I will miss another unplanned break into song and dance somewhere. Yes, the traditional costumes and action are great at the scheduled performances. I wouldn’t miss them for anything. But the kick I get out of someone jumping out of the crowd and getting everyone into a frenzy is priceless.
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Tuesday, 22 July 2008
You know you’re somewhere special when you can’t tell whether it’s the drums or your heart that’s just going boom boom.
But when the prayers, speeches and flag raising were over at the opening ceremony of the 10th Festival of Pacific Arts, I had no idea what was about to hit me. I had just told Isabelle Genoux on our radio program “In the Loop” on Radio Australia that proceedings were quite formal. And I had read that there was going to be a presentation of delegates and gifts. I did fear more sacred reflection was to be fed into my recorder. But then …
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