Art with purpose
Photos Ellie Smith
Filani Macassey is a Northland artist based in Kaiwaka. Having decided to downsize and relocate to Kaiwaka seven years ago, what was a necessity at the time Macassey says “ has become an opportunity to be part of a diverse community.”
The artist’s dad was a sheep farmer from the South Island who lived in Fiji during the mid-sixties. This is where he met Filani’s mother who was from the Island of Kadavu in Fiji. During the 1960s, Suva, Fiji’s capital, was an interesting and vibrant cosmopolitan centre; the perfect antidote for a post-war generation. “Dad was definitely escaping the aftermath of a tragic family event, and also perhaps the death of his younger brother during the second world war.”
It seems that the artist has invariably looked at the concept of what war is about to inspire further creative projects. In 2007 Filani graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Arts in conjunction with Contemporary Art and Art History papers at Auckland University. Achieving this milestone put the artist in the mindset of not producing art just for art's sake. “Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate art for art’s sake. There is nothing like painting, drawing, sculpting, or capturing an image for the pure pleasure of doing so. But I need to take it somewhere else. This is a concept that cannot be answered easily when people ask me what type of art I do,” she says.
Macassey’s current project involves a campaign through Arts Foundation, New Zealand. This is a crowdfunding boosted campaign with high stakes. It is all or nothing. Filani will be continuing her research into two WW2 RNZAF pilots, with this part of her campaign titled ‘Lithography on Fijian Masi’. She will eventually put an exhibition together around the theme of WW2 pilots to be shown at a public gallery with the hope of eventually touring it to various places.
Artists in this field tend to either look for sponsorship and/or spend a lot of their own hard-earned wages to realise their projects. “The initial stage is the challenging bit, bringing people and a community on board to support a project takes a lot of work. The actual art making is yet another aspect towards the development of a project. It really is not for the faint of heart,” Filani says.
To support Filani visit Boosted at the link below. All donations will be put towards realising the project and eventual exhibition. Ten percent of the final crowd fund of each project will be put back into Arts Foundation, New Zealand to support the continuation of future creative projects.
www.Boosted.org.nz/Projects/Filani-Macassey | www.instagram.com/Filani_Macassey