The Fiji Museum, in collaboration with the Veiqia Project, is conducting a Masi Printing and Liku Weaving Workshop, where local artists like Laijipa Sukulu from Moce, Lau, and Joana Veitala from Tawava, Yawe, Kadavu are guiding children through the traditional practices and teaching them how they are done.
One of the participants, Fareesha Ahemad, says she attended the workshop with two of her siblings because she wanted to learn more about iTaukei culture.
Fareesha says taking part in activities such as masi printing was a new experience for her and gave her an opportunity to learn something she had not done before.
She says learning about different cultures can also help young people make new friends, better understand each other and become more involved in the wider Fijian community.
Fareesha says she hopes to take what she has learnt from the workshop back to her friends at school and at home and encourage them to learn how traditional items are made.
She says it is important for young people to take an interest in these skills as traditional cultural knowledge and practices risk fading if they are not passed on to younger generations.
Another participant, Vivek Tushal Prasad from Suva, says this was his first time learning about masi and his mother encouraged him to take part in the workshop.
Prasad says it is important for the younger generation to learn traditional skills now as the knowledge could be useful to them as they grow older.
He says being part of the Indo-Fijian community while learning about iTaukei customs has also given him an opportunity to understand how iTaukei people traditionally lived and carried out cultural practices.
Prasad says learning about another community's culture can also teach young people the importance of respecting other cultures and being kind to one another.
He is encouraging other young people to take an interest in the cultures and traditions around them rather than allowing the knowledge of their forefathers to disappear.
Fareesha also believes workshops like this can help keep ancestral knowledge alive by giving children the opportunity to learn traditional skills and eventually pass them on to others.
