THE PROFESSOR

Hands down, Friday was the best day I’ve had in Fiji. I woke up early (well early for someone that doesn’t have a deskjob), and went over to the Oceania Centre for Arts and Culture at the University of the South Pacific. I met with Professor Epeli Hau’ofa, the director and founder of the Oceania Centre. The Professor, sporting a big bushy beard and large lens glasses, and I chatted for over two-and-a-half hours, with our conversation wavering from my research to the history of the Oceania Centre to the music industry to fusion music to traditional Fijian music to New York City, and to several other random topics.

When the Oceania Centre for Arts and Culture was founded in 1997, the Professor sought to create, “a physical environment that is conducive to the arts.” For the very reason, the Centre is an open-aired building. By connecting the arts to the natural environment, artistic creativity is able to blossom. When developing the Centre, the Professor wanted it to be, “open and noisy like [typical] Pacific communities.” The Professor admitted the challenge of the duality of creating a space that is conducive to the arts, yet draws upon traditional Pacific community values (because Pacific communities do not generally foster the creative arts for the individual). Nonetheless, by having different fields (music, art and dance) under the same roof, there is an “organic development of the arts.” There are massive sculptures and even larger paintings scattered throughout the space; nonetheless, there is a definite fluid organization to the Centre.

The Professor emphasized that program at the Oceania Centre must not only have a space with a relaxed feel to it, but also that the “academic” program itself be as informal as possible. Therefore, there are no classes at the Oceania Centre. Rather than teaching out of a textbook in a classroom, on their own prerogative, the students learn by observing others. Although some students only focus on a single discipline (as in music, art or dance), most students, the majority of the students work in more than one area of study.
Professor Hau’ofa did underscore that the Centre only admits, “gifted students,” and that the talents of the students are not taught, but rather, they are nurtured. The Centre draws on certain, “Western ideas,” specifically, “the freedom to create; [and] always having the opportunity to experiment.”

Interestingly enough, according to the Professor, many of the students would be unemployed if not enrolled in the school; and in fact, several of the students have criminal records, including one individual that was in and out of the Fijian prison system for over ten years. The Professor firmly believes that the Oceania Centre provides many opportunities for a creative outlet for sometimes-troubled individuals.

The combination of an informal environment and nontraditional educational philosophy create the ideal setting for an arts program: thus, the student is given complete freedom to expand his or her talents. Professor Hau’ofa asserted that while the students, “learn informally, they call me ‘Bosso.’ I am the elder of the ‘village.’”

When we first spoke specifically on the music program at the Oceania Centre, the Professor instilled on me the following (unofficial) mission statement: “The idea is to develop a music that is distinctly [South] Pacific.” Biting on a handrolled cigarette, the Professor told me, “You have to come up with something that is yours; [but also] it has to be accessible.” The Professor noted that the presence of, “the U.S. pop sound is [felt] everywhere,” and this, undoubtedly, limits the possibility of the rebirth of Fijian music, as the youth are more interested in US pop music than traditional Fijian music. He lamented the difficulties in doing so; but, remained optimistic. The Professor continued, “We want to develop music that people will take seriously.”

Choosing his words carefully, Professor Hau’ofa affirmed that, “People have to invent new music,” and that people of the South Pacific must, “find in inspiration from tradition; [but be careful] not to replicate” that tradition. One example of this idea in practice is one student, Calvin Rore, has revived the nose flute, a traditional South Pacific instrument that has almost no modern appreciation. Calvin has recorded a record of original compositions for the nose flute; so that in itself demonstrates how a (dying) traditional instrument is employed in a modern setting. Essentially, the music created at the Oceania Centre is a reinterpretation of a traditional art in a contemporary context.

This provided a smooth transition to the research of this fellowship. In regards to my research, the Professor and I talked extensively on the Centre’s creation of the bampipe sproduct of a collaborative effort between the Professor and a student named Calvin Rore (although, in reality, there has been much input and influence from other students at the Centre).

The bampipe first was conceptualized last January. Constructed from everyday materials (PVC piping, cardboard tubes, and rubber) and played with a common object (a flip-flop), the bampipe represents a great feat for contemporary Fijian music. The instrument not only is “easy” to construct (in comparison to a piano, for instance), but also still maintains a traditional South Pacific music sound. It should be noted that there is a patent pending on the bampipe.

The bampipe already has drawn notable recognition in the international music scene: the students at the Oceania Centre have been invited to China to perform at the inaugural Asia Youth Festival, which will be broadcasted throughout Asia. The two-week festival of music and dance has representatives from twenty-five different culture; furthermore, Fiji is the only country from the South Pacific, including Australia and New Zealand!

Professor Hau’ofa told me that many years ago, he spent some time in Trinidad, and was fascinated by the steel drums there. He said that the steel drums were a definite influence of the bampipes: both are percussion instruments that can provide the rhythm and the melody of a song. Furthermore, both are constructed from everyday objects. In the grandest vision, the bampipes someday will be to Fiji what the steel drum is to Trinidad.

For me, all of this fit so perfectly into the research I am conducting: it is pretty incredible that I have already found a concrete connection between my first destination on my itinerary and my final stop.

And all of this happened before 12:30pm. I’ll write the rest in separate post.