Winner chose the path of art
Faces turned eagerly towards the announcer and some hearts were beating faster as they waited for the winners’ names to be announced for each category of the National Exhibition Arts Awards.
The last to be announced was the national winner and the audience gathered at Iloilovatu Gallery at the Fiji Institute of Technology’s School of Arts, Culture and Design suddenly went quiet as they waited to hear the winner’s name.
A young man dressed casually in a pair of shorts and a shirt hesitantly made his way up to receive his prize after being pushed forward by his friends. He was the only one who went down on his knees and clapped his hands in the traditional Fijian manner of showing gratitude.
The exhibition was sponsored by the Fosters Group Pacific Limited to promote the work of local artists.
Jeke Veiwalu Lagi, a shy 25-year-old man, is a senior artist at the University of the South Pacific’s Oceania Centre.
He said art was something he grew up.
``I have only been painting for the past seven years, but even before starting school, I did sculpture, working with plasticine as a little boy,’’ he said.
Jeke’s father comes from Wallis and Futuna and his mother is from Batiki, in Lomaiviti. He is the third in a family of six children. He started studying art at USP when he was in form four and left high school in form six to continue at the Oceania Centre.
“My mother was the one who told me to go to USP and while I was in high school I was also learning art here,” he said. “She pushed me here because I was following the wrong crowd at Lami, which is where we live.”
For that he has been forever grateful to his mother and it was to her that he dedicated his award. Unlike the other award winners he did not open envelope containing the prize money, but just tucked it under his arm. When asked by Islandlife about how much he won, he replied that he did not know.
“This money is not for me because it belongs to someone else. This is for my mother and she will be the one who will open the envelope because it is hers and that is always what I do with my prizes or when my paintings are sold,” he said smiling.
Jeke also sells his paintings to an overseas gallery, but could not keep track of how many he had sold so far.
“I became a serious artist just last year and had never done a solo exhibition, but rather as a group, because I am someone who does not want to stand out, but rather keeps a low profile,” he said shyly.
However, Jeke wants to develop his art further and his advice to his peers is if they have a talent, they should keep striving to do their best and achieve their goals.
Irami Buli, 24, of Nasauvuki, Moturiki, Lomaiviti, was last year’s winner and came back to defend his title.
But this year was not his year as the first prize was claimed by Jeke.
Irami teaches at the International School in Suva and is also an artist at the Oceania centre.
He started sketching when he was nine years old and travelled for quite a while, taking part in art exhibitions in New Zealand, Australia, India, China and Tahiti.
“I am looking forward to the France tour next year, but I have not stopped challenging government for three years to look into the fate of artists. The finance minister now wants to tackle poverty, but why not take arts because it is so immense and could be a source of employment to school leavers,” he said.
“Even those in the villages can teach art and dance because art has a big role in the country, but it has to be taken in seriously. I keep trying to wake them up but there is still nothing done by government. Overseas, art is a big-time market and this needs exposure to future generations.”
Irami’s painting showed a father holding and speaking to his newborn baby and at the bottom of the painting are his word to the child.
In his drawing titled “A father’s last embrace” he said it was something close to him.
“The walls are crumbling and the father is fading away and through the walls, one could see the stars, which are universal. So when he is embracing and talking to him, he will say positive things to his child before he leaves him,’’ Irami explained.
