Fijian architecture enthralled early European voyagers and history writers when they set foot on Fiji more than two centuries ago.

Many wrote about the beauty of its design and magnificent sizes and shapes of these traditional houses, generically known in the Bauan language as ‘Vale’ (house) or ‘Vale Vakaviti (Fijian house). They were also in awe of the master- designers and architects, traditionally called mataisau, whose design and workmanship resulted in creatively built houses that have been admired the world over. Despite its magnificent reputation, modernization has brought in a lot of changes to houses in Fiji today. In some rural areas of Fiji, traditional ‘Bure’, pronounced as ‘Boo-ray’ can still be seen however many villages have adopted the use of modern materials such as bricks, corrugated iron and treated wood to build their houses.

In every traditional Fijian village, there were many different types of dwellings depending on the occupants and their purposes or functions.  Burenisa was a dwelling for young men and burekalou (priest-house) was the tallest building in any village.…more

But after moving in with my Aunty Henga in my second year at Auckland University, I found myself in the centre of true blue Samoan lotu. There was a song to begin, a prayer from everyone present, another song, a final prayer from Uncle Asora (a minister), then a song to finish. All this, and I didn’t understand a single word.

Lotu is pretty boring even when you know what you’re praying for. Lotu when you can’t understand what is going on is next level. For me, lotu was essentially sitting in silence and trying to pick out the odd word that I recognised.

But the songs were awesome.…more

Reknown Pacific contemporary artist Michel Tuffery aims to create a dialogue about one of the most important issues we as Pacific people deal with - our environment.

The pacific environment, this has been a long standing narrative within my art practise. 

I’ve recently returned from Tahiti delivering the most amazing film titled "Tupaia" made in collaboration with Lala Rolls.…more

I'm a dancer from New Zealand who has been selected to back up dance for Jennifer Lopez in Las Vegas.

I come from a small town Tokoroa and always dreamt of being a dancer. A passion of mine that started from a very young age and has now become a reality.....

Being from Tokoroa, i was limited to achieving this dream. I had to commute to and from Hamilton and Auckland 3-4x a week for classes and rehearsals as well as maintaining a full time job.

It was physically, mentally and financially challenging but i knew i had to make it work.

In 2012 i auditioned for Parris Goebels The Royal Family. A choreographer and company i knew i had to be apart of to grow as a dancer and achieve my dream.

I was successful and have been apart of the company ever since.

The move to Auckland was the biggest sacrifice i had to make. I always saw Tokoroa as my home. I was comfortable, i had my family and didn't no the outside world.…more

I remember it well, spending three hours at Gatwick Airport in the UK, while the Customs agents tried to locate one of their people who knows what a Samoan passport looks like, to verify the existence of my country. They found an agent finally, who came over, took my passport and declared: "Sorry, this is not Somalian."

The feelings I had at that point ranged from a deep anger to a sense of amusing dismay at the fact that my beloved island Paradise of Samoa in the middle of the South Pacific, was mistaken for a war torn country in Africa.…more

This months featured writer is Tusiata Avia - Impossibly Smart, utterly funny and a true artist with the written word. Sink into her modern retelling of the beloved ‘Sina and the Tuna’ legend- and let us know your thoughts!

Surfing for Sina by Tusiata Avia

For an eel, Tuna wasn’t a bad looking guy, not good looking, but he wasn’t a dog.

No, Tuna was an eel. But Tuna, like most eels, had a hard time with the ladies – what with the smell and the slipperiness and the slime: not qualities most women find appealing. It would take someone special to see beyond that. And, let’s face it – we all care about looks, now, don’t we? Well, we do, don’t we?

Tuna lived his life in the sea of  I.T. If I say he was a genius I wouldn’t be far off the mark. And socially, it suited him. A laptop doesn’t care if you’re a little clammy, a P.C. accepts you just the way you are.…more