"Shine on Seleka" Fundraising Festival Featured
6 March, 2018. Shine on Seleka is a fundraising initiative lead by local artists to help rebuild of one of Tonga’s most vibrant contemporary art communities.
An exhibition of fine art will be held on Thursday 8 March for the opening of ‘Shine on Seleka’ by some of the South Pacific’s leading artists.
Proceeds of all funds raised will go to assist the rebuild of Seleka’s studio and community house in Tongatapu.
Founded by artist Tevita Latu, along with a core team of artists, Seleka has become a beacon to raise the consciousness of contemporary art in Tonga.
Through their community work and youth outreach programmes, the team at Seleka have had a significant impact on the young people of Tonga.
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1 comment
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The eminent artists of the Great Moana Oceania in Aotearoa New Zealand should all be duly congratulated for such an excellent initiative, where proceeds will go towards the rebuilding of the Seleka community-driven art school taken down and apart from the recent cyclone Lady Gita. Good on you all. Apart from all the people of the tiny beloved Kingdom, in both Tonga and abroad, both artists and well-meaning citizens of good will, the Ministries of Education, Culture and Tourism, on the other hand, should all rise to the occasion, justly seeing to it that at the very least the onus of such a huge task is equally commonly on all their shoulders.
Given that the chief concern of art which critically engages in the production of beauty (as politics in the production of peace, education in the production of knowledge [and skills], and culture as the repository of such knowledge [and skills], transmitted through language as a vehicle), it does through Seleka as an art school play an active and vibrant role by way of contribution to culture (and language), history and society.
Seleka, though informal in the legality of its status yet formal in its conduct of its affairs, is an affiliate of Tonga International Academy (TIA), both of which have a common interest in both the production of beauty and of knowledge (and skills) respectively. Seleka, notably the founder, director, artist and art teacher, theorist and critic, Tevita Latu, teaches art courses at Seleka, which are credited to those offered in parallel at TIA.
Similarly, though, sadly so,, one of the most beautiful sculptures, Hinavakamea (with Tunavakamea as the other), was taken down by the cyclone Lady Gita, is a real tourist attraction, not to mention the immensity, complexity and beauty of the cultural basis on which they were designed and built, especially when they were derived from the well thought-out and practised Tongan (and Moanan Oceanian) kupesi, elaborate and complex geometric designs.