Auckland Melanesian Festival: Interview with Ema Tavola of Vunilagi Vou

Davina Foon and Ema Tavola with Hon. Carmel Sepuloni and husband Daren Kamali

In October of this year Auckland celebrated its first Melanesian Festival in West Auckland. With stalls, performers and over 8000 attendees, the festival celebrated the people of Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and New Caledonia.

In Aotearoa, a country dominated by Polynesian pride, it’s taken 20 years for this special Melanesian Festival to become reality. A minority within a minority, Melanesians took this opportunity to raise their voices, dance and celebrate their regions.

We spoke with the incredible Ema Tavola, owner of Vunilagi Vou, an art gallery and consultancy, who had a stand at the festival in collaboration with neighbouring business Koleta Pacifika Boutique.

An artist and internationally renowned curator, arts manager and advocate, Ema’s Fijian heritage comes from her father who hails from Dravuni, Kadavu Province, Fiji. Her father’s job in government meant that although born in Fiji she was raised in London and Brussels for much of her childhood before moving to Wellington as a teen and splitting her time between Aotearoa and Fiji.

Where is home for you?

“Home is where your baseline lives – you go out into the world and take it with you. My father grew up on the island of Dravuni and would look out to the horizon - the vunilagi – and imagine that the whole world was beyond the horizon. He has spent a lifetime going ‘beyond the horizon’ and imbedded that pursuit in us. Importantly though, you can go past the vunilagi, but always return.”

When asked what the Melanesian Festival meant to her a big smile comes over Ema’s face. “It was so special.”

“Leading up to the event I thought it was just a festival. You don’t think too deeply and focus on the logistics. But when we got there the event itself was so special and for so many people we spoke to during the day, we all felt the energy of it.”

It begs the question – why has this taken so long?

“We can’t unsee it now – how special it was. As Melanesians – we’ve been largely invisible in Auckland and across Aotearoa. And now we’re seeing not only our arts and culture but a huge celebration of the way that we look and feel. The numbers – boy! Everyone who came out in force on that day were saying ‘we are not a quiet minority – we have numbers here’! We were just blown away – it was such a good feeling. It was so nice for us Melanesians to own this space.“

“I’ve been doing events and activities in the Pacific arts space for twenty years – I have never felt as much belonging as I did on that day. It was very special.”

And going forward?

“Now, it’s not acceptable to talk about the Pacific region and not acknowledge Melanesia in these conversations here in Auckland. Our communities deserve to be seen.”

People were saying “I’ve never seen so many Fijians, Solomon Islanders etc in one space – and it feels amazing!”

It was a milestone moment for Auckland and Aotearoa.

 And what’s next for you?

I’ve always got lots on, but right now I’m promoting a BoostedxMoana crowdfunding campaign for two incredible South Auckland Pasifika artists, Genevieve Pini and Niu Lemalu. The funding will allow them to be able to develop and show their works in solo exhibitions here at Vunilagi Vou in 2023. It’s important that we back our people. The campaign runs until Thursday17 November.

To find out more about Vunilagi Vou click here.

To find out more about BoostedxMoana Two Solos click here.