By Serelisoni Moceica
Bula Queen Seasea Misiki is a lady on a mission.
“I want to get our young i-Taukei to revive our customs and traditions, something we should be proud of and maintain,” Ms Misiki said.
The 21-year-old university student, who has now put her studies on hold following her successful outing at the recent Bula Festival, said her advocacy programme focused on Fijian customs and traditions.
“Our customs, our traditions, this is something we identify with as i-Taukei and slowly we are seeing all this diminish from our very own eyes.”
The proud Lauan beauty said she was fortunate to have been taught the art of weaving and tapa printing from a very young age.
“Every afternoon after school we were expected to participate in tapa printing and weaving for about an hour before we did our homework and that was the norm at home,” Ms Misiki said.
She is thus advocating for youths to develop more interest in learning i-Taukei art and maintaining their customs and traditions.
Ms Misiki also encouraged workshops and programmes to teach interested young women.
“I call on women and those who already know how to weave and print masi to get together and organise programmes where we can teach others these skills,” she said.
Ms Misiki was at the Nadi Civic Centre showcasing her masi printing skills recently.
The Bula Queen is also representing Nadi town at the upcoming Miss Fiji pageant this month.