Lithography on Fijian masi

Filani Macassey (Fijian/ Tongan- Scottish) is a local artist based in Kaiwaka who is being supported by the Arts Foundation NZ as part of the 2023 Boosted X Moana crowdfunding campaign.

Crowdfunding will enable Macassey to further develop a project around her research into two WW2 pilots, one was her father’s younger brother and the other pilot a Fijian chief’s son. Both young men enrolled in the RNZAF and both died having earned their wings. The project wil look to connect Aotearoa and Fiji through creative and historical talanoa. 

"I started looking at this project a year ago, it will be another year before it is ready to be exhibited. With the crowdfunding I will be working with the APS Editions director, John Pusateri on a stone lithograph, which will be printed on Fijian masi, a traditional hand beaten fibre."

The artist says the lithograph series will incorporate an ancient Pacific Island material with a printing process that dates back to the late eighteenth-century Europe with a focus on concepts of gestural line, colour, physics and philosophy.

Funds will cover an artist stipend, importing of masi from Fiji and professional photographs for the purpose of pitching the development of this project towards an exhibition.