The awards have been held annually since 2005 highlighting the “essential role Pacific music plays in defining culture and identity”.

This year’s big winners included rapper Melodownz, R’n’B crooner Sam V and Tokelauan singer Olivia Foa’i.

Pacific radio station 531pi were specially acknowledged for 30 years of broadcasting.

The station exclusively plays Pacific music and airs language programmes that cater to first- and second-generation Pacific migrants.

Pacific Media Network board chair Saimoni Lealea said 531pi had come a long way.

“This was a key service in the 1980s and 1990s,” he said.

‘Culture and tradition’
“It wasn’t just an opportunity to air our music, it was also about communicating with our community and communicating with the government.

“Communities in the Pacific don’t do things to be recognised or to be awarded because much of the things that they do are part of everyday life. 531pi is a medium through which the culture and tradition is transmitted, relived, strengthened and enhanced.”

Taking out the Best Pacific Female Artist and Best Pacific Language award, Olivia Foa’i said continuing the legacy of previous winners in the language category was ‘nerve-wracking’.

“You want to get it right,” she said.

“Sometimes as an artist you feel like the weight is on your shoulders and you put out a song and maybe you’re not representing well enough, and people hear it and you’re like, ‘oh what have I done?’.

“I think for me, I always feel that I’m repping the ones who maybe struggle a little to claim their language or who were brought up far from their communities. But it’s a really beautiful thing, there’s so much depth in connecting to the words or the vocabulary of your ancestors.”

‘Love Again’
R’n’B artist Sam V — real name Sam Verlinden — won Best Pacific Soul and RnB Award for his songs “Come Through” and “Love Again”.

Sam V said the Pacific Music Awards promoted Pasifika artists and brought exposure to their music.

He criticised Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown for proposing budget cuts to social, arts and cultural services — a move which prompted an outcry among many artists in South Auckland.

“Why is he trying to cut the funding everywhere?” Verlinden questioned.

“Bro’ should focus less on his tennis and more on looking after the young ones.”

Samoan/Maori rapper Melodownz took out three awards for Best Male Artist, Best Music Video, and Music Album.

Upon receiving the award, Melodownz told the audience that it was a duty for Pasifika artists to give back to their communities.

‘Huge for Hawai’i’
Overseas artists were also acknowledged and this year, Hawai’i’s Josh Tatofi was named as the winner of the Best International Pacific artist award.

Receiving the award on behalf of Tatofi was his manager Tana Tupai, who said that Tatofi was among a bevy of musicians from Hawai’i such as Iam Tongi and George Veikoso aka “Fiji” who have gained fans all over world.

“It’s huge for Hawai’i who have this massive wave of artists being acknowledged at such a global stage and Josh is happy to play his part, inspiring and connecting music from Hawai’i and the Pacific Islands across the globe.”

2023 Pacific Music Awards winners

Auckland Council Best Pacific Female Artist: Olivia Foa’i – Sunlight

NZ Music Commission Best Pacific Male Artist: Melodownz – Lone Wolf

Flava Best Pacific Group: Deceptikonz – In Perpetuity

531pi Best Pacific Gospel Artist: Punialava’a – Tagi Le Atunu’u Pele

Matai Watches Best Pacific Hip Hop Artist: Poetik – Hamofied Tre

Best Pacific Soul/RnB Artist: Sam V – The one, the lonely EP, Come Through, Love Again

Best Pacific Roots/Reggae Artist: Three Houses Down – The Dream, She Loves Me

Niu FM Best International Pacific Artist: Josh Tatofi – Prisoner of Love, Sweet Loven, Landslide, Still the One, Pua Ahih’I, Good Morning Beautiful, Tomorrow

MPG/SAE Best Producer: Mareko x Ricky Paul – Untitled: ACT 1 (Producer: Ricky Paul Musik)

NZ On Air Best Pacific Music Video: Melodownz – Pray For More ft Lisi, Mikey Dam (directed by Connor Pritchard)

APRA Best Pacific Song: Victor J Sefo – 685 (Written by Victor J Sefo, Ventry Parker, Elijah Tovio)

SunPix Best Pacific Language: Olivia Foa’i- Sunlight

Recorded Music NZ Te Pukaemi Toa O Te Moana Nui A Kiwa | Best Pacific Music Album Award: Melodownz – Lone Wolf

NZ On Air Radio Airplay Award: SWIDT ft Lomez Brown – Kelz Garage

NZ On Air Streaming Award: Savage ft Aaradhna – They Don’t Know

SunPix People’s Choice Award – Best Pacific Artist: Wayno

Phillip Fuemana Award – Most Promising Pacific Artist: Teo Glacier

Creative New Zealand Award: Lady Shaka

Ministry for Pacific Peoples Special Recognition Award: 531pi

Ministry for Pacific Peoples Special Recognition Award: Mark Vanilau

Arch Angel Independent Music Award: Victor J Sefo

Manukau Institute of Technology Lifetime Te Pukenga Achievement Award: Toni Williams

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

About 23,000 Melanesians live in Aotearoa and yesterday they had their first very own festival showcasing their diverse cultures.

Fijians make up the bulk of the population but there are also ni-Vanuatu, Solomon Islanders, Papua New Guineans, West Papuans and Kanaks from New Caledonia.

The founder and director of the Melanesian Festival, Joana Monolagi, said after years of planning and lots of patience it was wonderful that the event had finally happened.

“From the people that I have spoken to through this planning they have come and voiced their feelings to me and their views are that it’s been a long time coming,” she said.

“They’ve been praying and waiting for something to showcase Melanesia.”

Ni-Vanuatu and Melanesian community advocate Leina Isno said the festival put a spotlight on cultures in the Pacific that “often go unnoticed” in New Zealand.

“A part of the Pacific that is so under-recognised and under spoken about, especially in the culture of New Zealand. We deserve that recognition, we deserve to be talked about.”

The festival included food stalls, arts and craft displays and cultural performances.

Papuan students
One of the groups that performed is the Papuan Student Association Oceania, led by AUT postgraduate communications student Laurens Ikinia.

Ikinia said he was grateful to the event organisers who had worked tirelessly to give the Melanesian community a platform.

“It’s incredible how they’ve put their commitment and their focus just to make this event happen,” he said.

The West Papuan students performing at the festival yesterday.   Video: Nik Naidu/Whānau hub

“It’s quite sad to say this year is gonna be the first year for the first celebration but you know on the other hand it’s a great acknowledgement for Melanesian communities who are living in Aotearoa.”

Monolagi said she spent years working to get everything to fall into place and she was determined, now it had come to fruition, that this weekend’s festival would not be a one-off.

She said it had all the potential of reaching the same level as other cultural events in New Zealand.

“There’s room to move,” she said.

“I think in this short time I’ve experienced the interest not just in Auckland but I recently came back from Wellington and they looked forward to coming up this weekend to celebrate with us.”

The Melanesian Festival took place at the Waitemata Rugby Club Grounds in Henderson, Auckland.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

In the New Zealand 2021 Budget, a big investment of NZ$108 million has been signalled to support the wellbeing of the Pacific population through the rebuild and recovery from the covid-19 pandemic.

Pacific Peoples Minister ‘Aupito William Sio said this was a significant investment for Pacific communities who have been hard-hit by the pandemic in the past year.

“With the Pacific Aotearoa Lalanga Fou Goals as a guide, the Pacific package puts a strong focus on Pacific wellbeing and continues the government’s commitment to ensuring that Pacific peoples are leading this work to achieve confident, thriving, prosperous and resilient communities,” he said.

“Budget 2021 makes this possible through tailored business, health and education initiatives that bolster the vital holistic work Pacific communities are already doing across the country.”

The $108 million Pacific package is made up of the following:

• $99.6 million new operating funding
• $660,000 new capital funding from the Budget 2021 allowances and the Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund (CRRF).
• $7.8 million in operating funding is repurposed from existing funding in Vote Education.

The package includes:

• $30.3 million boost to assist the Tupu Aotearoa programme to support approximately 7500 Pacific peoples into employment, training, and education across Aotearoa New Zealand, funded from the CRRF.
• Investing $6.6 million to support establishing the Pacific Wellbeing Strategy – a cross-government initiative that will develop ways to measure Pacific wellbeing across government work programmes and initiatives.
• Supporting Pacific businesses through the impacts of covid-19 with $16.2 million for business support services, funded from the CRRF.
• $20.8 million supporting Pacific bilingual and immersion education in the schooling system, made up of $12.4 million of new operating funding and $644,000 of new capital funding from Budget 2021 allowances, with $7.8 million of repurposed funding from Vote Education.
• $5 million operating funding and $16,000 capital funding to deliver sustained professional learning and development to embed Tapasā as a tool to address social inclusion in the education sector.
• $5.1 million for the development of two new Pacific language subjects, gagana Tokelau and vagahau Niue as NCEA Achievement Standards subjects.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

In a nation such as Papua New Guinea where oral storytelling is central to the intergenerational transfer of knowledge and wisdom, playwright Andrew Kuliniasi has taken things to a whole different level by embedding historical accounts and capturing snapshots of a society in transition in a Western art form.

In 2015, Kuliniasi wrote Meisoga, a play based on life of Sine Kepu, the matriarch of her grandmother’s clan. It tells of a young woman forced into leadership by a series of unfortunate events.

His new creation, He Is Victor, is an attempt to capture a moment in time in modern Papua New Guinea society where HIV, TB and discrimination are issues families have to contend with.

Andrew Kuliniasi writes:

“He Is Victor follows the story of a young ‘gun for hire’ journalist named Tolilaga (which means a person who always wants to know) as she tries to uncover the mysterious death of her cousin brother Victor.

“The family hasn’t told her anything and has been keeping Tolilaga out of the loop. Meanwhile Tolilaga struggles with her motivations for finding the truth as she needs one big story for her to get a new job and promotion.

“At the closing of Victor’s hauskrai, she finds Victor’s journal that chronicles the moments leading up to his death.

“This story is a contemporary PNG tragedy.

“It deals with very hard hitting issues that a lot of Papua New Guineans are afraid to talk about.

“The main character, Tolilaga, delves into the issues and exploits the narrative. She’s a sensationalist but that doesn’t mean her stories don’t have merit.

“What Tolilaga tries to do is show the truth, the ugly truth. But the truth in PNG, the land where we live, the unspoken is very controversial.

“This play deals with issues of discrimination against people with HIV, tuberculosis and how these diseases are contracted. The play also questions our culture, in conversations we have about sex and sexuality, gender roles and family bonds.

“This show is going to get people talking and I’m expecting a lot of conversation. Is this show controversial? It maybe depending on individual audience members.

“But the one thing I can say is there will be a lot of crying. So if you’re coming to watch the show, bring a box of tissues.

• The play is set for April 9-10 and 15-17 in Port Moresby.

Asia Pacific Report republishes articles from Lae-based Papua New Guinean television journalist Scott Waide’s blog, My Land, My Country, with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz