Tuna artworks that were displayed during the Europe Day celebration at the Fiji Museum last week was based on the future of the fisheries in the Pacific Islands.
USP Oceania Centre for Arts, Culture and Pacific Studies visual arts co-ordinator Johanna Beasley, in a USP statement, said the university was working in partnership with the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (PIFFA) to unveil an artwork of tuna which was put together by six artists.
“We were asked by PIFFA to illustrate the artists thoughts on tuna fishing and this is what they have come up with,” Ms Beasley said.
Leading artist Ben Fong said the Pacific region faced the immense problem of over fishing.
“Through this artwork I want to show how we have changed from traditional fishing methods in the past to the mechanical methods we use now,” Mr Fong said.
Spanish artist Cristina Gonzalez in the statement said the tuna industry was one of the most significant motors for the economy in the region.
“Through my artwork, the human activities are revealed inside the skin of the fish.
“I depict the strength of the ocean and how we cannot control nature.
“The work tries to capture the whole process from fishing to the final tuna canning,” she said.
She added instead of illustrating a tuna being placed in a can, she used the ocean landscape as a metaphor to illustrate the process.
2014, Fiji Times Limited