Stuff We Like

While tapa looms large in the customary life of many Pacific Islanders, how many of us know the differences in technique and design of tapa-both subtle and dramatic-across the Pacific?

Pacific Tapa is a great book for people with an interest in this ancient art and Pacific Island design and culture more generally. It traces the historical development of tapa production and ceremonial use, from its first recording to recent innovations, including the incorporation of contemporary events in design in Tonga, the use of beading in Papua New Guinea, stenciling in Fiji and fringing in Futuna. And while it points out differences, it also draws links to that which unites tapa makers, including the "vane swastika" or windmill motif used in Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and even Sulawesi in Indonesia.

Pacific Tapa is based on the tapa cloth collection of Auckland University, but reads as much more than just a catalogue.

Pacific Tapa by Roger Neich and Mick Pendergrast, photographed by Krzysztof Pfeiffer and published by the University of Hawaii Press. $26
>>> www.uhpress.hawaii.edu

Fiji Museum {website}

Still in the (virtual) halls of Pacific museums comes a new online exhibition of Fijian historical photos. The Fiji Museum has recently upgraded its Web site and features include photo exhibitions of Fiji weaving and a "Glassplate negatives virtual exhibition."

The later includes fascinating photos from the late 19th and early 20th centuries such as "Hill tribe warriors with wigs" taken in a Suva photographic study in 1890 and a police bure built "especially for the Royal Highnesses, Prince Albert and Prince George's visit to Nasova, Levuka in 1881."

The collection also shows photos of the Grand Pacific Hotel, and Morris Hedstrom Buildings in Suva, now sadly shells of their former selves.

Just one suggestion, it would be great if the photos could be enlarged in pop up windows so some of the fine details could be seen.
>>> http://www.fijimuseum.org.fj/fijimuseum.htm

Mekim News {book}

Mekim Nius: South Pacific Media, Politics and Education from New Zealand academic and journalist David Robie, is an authoritative and easily digested study of the media industries of Papua New Guinea and Fiji. Based on two surveys and a series of interviews with media practitioners as well as his own experiences at the University of Papua New Guinea and University of the South Pacific's journalism programs, Robie's (convincing) conclusion is that now, more than ever, Pacific Island journalists need a formal education to contend with the myriad challenges of living and reporting in an era of globalization.

Robie also seeks to use Mekim Nius to set the record straight on the controversy generated by his appointment to the USP journalism program, and is critical of among others, this magazine, for its coverage in 2001.

Robie's interviews with PNG and Fiji journalists and newsroom leaders are illuminating, as is his sharing of the internal and external challenges and successes of student newsrooms at UPNG and USP. Weaker is his analysis of the impact of shorter term, non-university training courses. While their limitations are acknowledged, there is no doubt these "continuing education" style programs can be of tremendous benefit-and the two styles of education shouldn't be mutually exclusive.

Robie is now a senior lecturer and publications coordinator at the Auckland University of Technology's School of Communication Studies, and has retained his commitment to the education and development of Pacific Island journalism. Mekim Nius is a worthwhile contribution to this debate. F$25.
>>> www.uspbookcentre.com (Fiji) or www.southpacificbooks.co.nz (New Zealand)

20 Years Ago In Pacific Magazine Twenty years ago, the talk of the Pacific was the impending arrival of a fishing deal between Kiribati and Russia. There was much consternation in Western capitals about the Russians getting a major foothold in the Central Pacific. And it was raising eyebrows in Kiribati, where the opposition was criticizing the government's attempt to sign a $1 million fisheries licensing deal with Moscow. Big Fish: "MP Taraia, (in Kiribati) in supporting his original motion, said the Russians are untrustworthy. He backed his statement by quoting documents from defected Russians who have political asylum in the western world. He also referred to the troubles of the neighbors of Russia caused by Russian aggression and desire for world domination." Club Med: Tourist interests in Tahiti are breathing again now that the "Club Med" has reopened on the island of Moorea. After a delay of more than a year and an expenditure of US$14 million, Tahiti's largest tourist/hotel complex now has 23 percent more beds in bungalows, having grown from 285 to 350. The "Club Med" accounted for 12 percent of all Tahiti's tourists, a fact which underlines the territory's vulnerability to one, single tourist venture." Don't Move: "A former minister of the previous government of the Solomon Islands has been jailed for two months for wounding a man with a bow and arrow. He is Ataban Tropa, the MP for Temout/Nende, the outer lying province in the eastern tip of the Solomon Islands."