Weaving a new bridge: West Auckland arts centre connects with the Solomon Islands

Since the 1980s, the Pacifica Arts Centre (PAC) in West Auckland has been a home for Pacific culture where Polynesian traditions have been nurtured and passed on.

Now, the centre is turning its attention further west, building stronger links with Melanesian communities.

The shift came in April when Director Jacinda Stowers-Ama travelled to Honiara with a small delegation for a landmark cultural exchange with the Solomon Islands community.

“Our eyes needed to see a little bit further than Polynesia,” Stowers-Ama tells PMN Solomon Islands.

“The Solomon Islands community has really been important to our organisation, but I wanted to make sure we walked into that with cultural care, with an understanding of what that feels like.”

She was joined by Florie Dausabea, former Solomon Islands Auckland Wantok Association (SIAWA) president, who helped guide the connection back to her people in the ‘Hapi Isles’.

Florie Dausabea and Jacinda Stowers-Ama in Honiara. Photo/Pacifica Arts Centre/Facebook

When Stowers-Ama first approached Dausabea about building these connections, the advice was direct: to understand the community in Aotearoa, she had to go back to the roots.

“I’m a die-hard Solo. So I suggested to them that they go home and meet [the people]. Culturally, we are similar to the Pacific but we have a lot of nuances,” Dausabea says.

“We are Melanesian. Solomons [culture] is a little different from PNG, a little bit different in Vanuatu, Fiji, or New Caledonia.”

The exchange, supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and the New Zealand High Commission to the Solomon Islands, allowed Stowers-Ama to meet with local weavers, carvers, crafters, and tattoo practitioners.

Dausabea says she trusted PAC to take part in the exchange because of its long-standing “love and care" approach to communities.

“My relationship with Jacinda has been going on for 10 years now. I’m very proud and privileged to have taken Jacinda as well as documentary filmmaker Ralph Brown,” Dausabea says.

One of the clearest examples of living culture was shell money from Malaita, still used in traditional exchanges and ceremonies, and still carrying real cultural value today.

For Stowers-Ama, the visit highlighted "unmatched hospitality" and "pure artistry".

“I have a deeper level of appreciation,” she says.

“We met with some of the mamas explaining piece by piece how each one was made. Knowing the work that’s gone into it, knowing the hearts and hands that have made it.”

The exchange was not just about observing culture but about sharing skills. During meetings with 47 local practitioners, a clear need emerged for training in areas like governance and protecting cultural knowledge.

“A lot of people mentioned they would really like training around governance,” Stowers-Ama explains. “Intellectual property was a really big one. These are things we already offer at our centre.”

She says PAC plans to use its experience as a medium-scale arts organisation, built from a grassroots “Pacifica Mamas” movement, to support artists in the Solomon Islands through workshops and online learning.

By using digital tools, the centre hopes to keep the connection active beyond the visit. “I use the term ‘arts’ very loosely, because this is actually their way of life,” Stowers-Ama says.

Dausabea agrees that any partnership must stay grounded in local leadership and respect. Working with communities, she says, is what protects the knowledge and keeps it strong for the next generation.

Stowers-Ama added that, “This is not just a short-term hello”.

For both women, the hope is that this first exchange becomes something longer lasting, the beginning of a permanent bridge between West Auckland and the Solomon Islands, built on shared knowledge, trust, and Pacific connection.