Cultural group honoured with exhibition

By Adel Fruean 14 July 2018, 12:00AM

The Samoa Teachers Cultural Group was honoured with an exhibition titled “Se’i toe seu le ata sina manaia nai Malifa” yesterday. 

Organised by the Ministry of Education Sports and Culture (M.E.S.C.) at the Museum of Samoa at Malifa yesterday, the exhibition showcased the history of the Samoa Teachers Cultural Group or the Ausiva a Faiaoga, which was established in 1972. 

It showcased a collection of interviews with original, former and current members of the group, including videos of national and international performances in the past, artefacts, publications and a collection of almost 170 photographs. Minister of Education, Sports and Culture, Loau Solamalemalo Keneti Sio said: “Se’i toe seu le ata sina manaia nai Malifa. Let us revisit once again the beauty that was born from Malifa.” 

The Samoa Teacher’s Cultural Group have been representing Samoa to this Festival of Arts held in Fiji in 1972. They have been representing Samoa to this festival over a number of years since then. 

The group was originally organised by a school inspector, Aiono Keneti Sataraka. 

Despite the many modernised versions of the dance we see today, this group has tried to maintain the most traditional form of this art form. They are considered with high esteem because of this,” Loau said.

“Today (yesterday) we gather to honour our forefathers and mothers who saw the importance of our cultural practices and the need to maintain these practices. 

However, changes are part of our life and culture does and needs to change to adapt. 

For this reason, the Ministry has decided to safeguard the traditional knowledge on our Samoan dance and document it for our people today and the future. 

We have seen changes that are affecting our own traditional dance and it is only natural that these changes will continue to happen. But I thank you for your role in instilling traditional knowledge and passing it onwards.” 

By Adel Fruean 14 July 2018, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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