SPC members on island to assist Arts Fest organizing committee
by Tina Mata'afa
Samoa News Writer
Two members of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community are in American Samoa to assist the organizing committee of the 10th Festival of Pacific Arts in preparing for the region's largest traditional and contemporary cultural event that will showcase and celebrate the arts of 27 Pacific nations.
Plans are already taking shape for showcasing the wealth of arts that participants will bring to American Samoa for the fest - including visual arts, literary arts, performing arts, healing arts, culinary arts, voyaging and navigational arts, music, traditional arts and natural history.
"We are here on behalf of the SPC for the Arts Fest to offer support and guidance for the organizing committee," SPC Regional Media Center Coordinator Larry Thomas told Samoa News. "And we have come to see if American Samoa is ready to host the fest, to meet with the organizing committee and see how best we can support and assist."
About eight people attended a meeting that invited locals interested in taking part in the film festival, a sort of festival within a festival, that will feature films and documentaries from participating Pacific delegations.
Thomas and the second SPC visitor Letila Mitchell, an accomplished visual and performing artist, co-founder of the Pacific Arts Alliance and Director of the Fiji Arts Council, have already met with several sub-committees since they arrived Friday.
American Samoa is proposing to become the first host country to have the festival broadcast live in and around the Pacific while in progress, an issue mentioned during Wednesday's film festival meeting held at the ASCC Land Grant conference room.
Several local filmmakers are looking at creating documentaries at the fest while the Creative/Literary Arts Committee, headed by Tialuga Seloti, is working on organizing the film festival that will most likely take place at the ASCC auditorium, currently undergoing major renovations.
The SPC, a regional intergovernmental organization that founded the fest in 1972 will be documenting the 10th Festival of the Pacific Arts in its entirety.
Thomas will lead a production team to American Samoa for the event that opens from July 20 - Aug. 2. The team will include filmmakers and reporters who will document the event for archive purposes, becoming a part of the SPC library.
A key part of current planning is keeping participating countries "in the loop" said Thomas, having them respond to plans laid out by the host country.
Mitchell said Reggie Meredith, ASCC art instructor and committee member, who is handling the visual arts aspect of the fest, is already in contact with the other countries. Visual arts will be showcased at four different venues and Meredith is collecting information from delegations on what they will need to showcase their arts.
In April, arts council heads from each participating country will meet in American Samoa during the Pacific Arts Alliance meeting. Mitchell will revisit American Samoa for the meeting which will include discussions on how the various arts from each country will be best presented.
Thomas and Mitchell plan to attend several more meetings with other sub-committees before they depart. Assistance from the SPC will continue as Thomas will visit several more times before the fest takes place.
Both Mitchell and Thomas were expected to be present at an Arts Festival/Chamber of Commerce meeting last night. They depart today.
A team of New Caledonia government officials are on-island, here to get a first hand look at the venues for the festival and ask questions they may have regarding preparations. They will receive an official welcoming from the organizing committee at the Governor's Office this morning. The New Caledonians depart Sunday.
Reach the reporter at tina@samoanews.com.
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