MOTIFS AND DESIGNS FROM FIJI
Fijian people are creative people and they use their natural resources to their
advantage. Many creative and artistic products they produce are used for their subsistence living.
Some are either used on a daily basis or produced for ceremonial purposes. For example, masi or paper
mulberry are made for clothing. Some are worn on a daily basis while others are made in very large pieces
for weddings or funerals. The designs are specialized to different regions. In the past, during large
presentations, spectators will always differentiate which region from another by seeing the designs of
the masi they are presenting. For instance from the Lau Group, the influence of the Tongan technique and
coloring as affected the style and color. In Lau, brown is used and in some places, the use of
the kupesi or masi tablet is seen.
Yellow: Tumeric
Black: Mud, Tavola,makadre, Qumu tree-to paint their faces black for war or dance
Red: Bark of kura and of tiri (On Nukubati off the coast of Macuata, in Vanua Levu, I saw the sap of
mangrove employed by potters for painting their crockery. Just after the pots have been baked and were still
quite hot, a mixture consisting of this fluid and the sap of the Wakiwaki (Hibiscus), was used for that purpose,
the color of the paint remained unchanged after the vessels have become cool and dry.
Many designs and motifs in Fiji represent the regions or islands. The source of material
can also play a key role in determining the origin of a certain cultural item.
Fijian tapa making
Making of masi was a woman's activity. Men may help in harvesting the masi plants, but women did all the labour of making and designing them. An Ike or wooden beater is used to spread the fibers of the well-soaked green masi. These are laid on a dudua (wooden flat surface). The reddish brown color is made of tete or clay, while the dark black color is from the boiled mangrove bark (kuli ni dogo).
Ike
Dudua
Kesa
Loa
Qele damu
Fijian mat making
Voivoi or pandanus is the leaves that are used for making mats. Mats are used as beddings or to lie or sit on.
Decorations on a mat can me made of somo or black pandanus. Wool can also be used on the edges of the mats.
The art of drying the boiled pandanus is sigasigani and to put wool on is vavakula. Have you ever wondered
what used to be used before wool was used?
Voivoi
Somo
Sigasigani
Wawalui
Vavakula
See below the various types of mats made in Fiji.
Types
Davodavo
Vakabati
Papua
Tini Vaka papa
Kuta
Tabu Kaisi
Ibe vakasomo
Vakadivilivili
Fijian Basketry
Fijian women are creative weavers. Weaving is taught to young girls from a very young age. Baskets have different uses and are made from different materials. Those from the interior of Viti Levu island, for instance Namosi and Naitasiri, they use bamboo a lot. In Nadroga, they use coconut leaves while in Lau, they use voivoi or pandanus.
See below a list of the various types of baskets:
Noke
Rubu
Bola
Ketekete
Tabe-made of bamboos, found in the interiors of Viti Levu
Nadroga: Boiled and split leaves of the coconut (Ewin, 1973:86)
Western Lau: Voivoi
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