A Rare Grandeur
The Department of Language, Literature and Communications at the University of Fiji prides itself once again this year hosting Creative Circle on the theme: Artistic Gifts, on 9th of May, 2014. Enchanted scores of people in attendance marvelled various forms of creativity and this is a testimony of the success of the programme. This indisputably provided a meaningful display of creativity to our students at Saweni Campus.
We have significantly contributed in our UniFiji Creative Circle through a variety of scholarly and creative writing and creativity: ranging from poetry recital, creative art, drama and singing, to name a few. UniFiji Creative Circle is an umbrella which presents our talented, multi-skilled and exceptional gifted students and colleagues to showcase their myriad skills and interests. Besides the academic excellence of our students, the Creative Circle gives allowance for such moments where individuals make contact with the creative spirit, that elusive muse of something exceptionally dazzling to present that flash of inspiration as the masterpiece and allowing our creative imaginations to roam free.
The Master of Ceremony for this event, Avineel Kumar, led us swiftly through a power-packed programme. He expressed that the members through this platform wish to achieve a balance between modernity and tradition in their creativity. The member’s contribution at this event formed the limelight of the afternoon.
The programme unfolded with a lucid and thoughtful deliberation by Professor Narendra Reddy. He highlighted that creativity is something that cannot be measured and at times creativity comes into existence by chance. As teachers, academics and researchers, creativity is crucial for our jobs. It is not about bringing ideas down from heaven to earth, but exploring creative ideas of our own. These creations assist us to understand more clearly some aspect of reality in this present world and/or give us guidance as to how to correct negative aspects of the present reality. For example, the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy’s complex fictional characters helped people better understand the various social “types” produced in tsarist Russia.
Professor Reddy’s enlightening speech on creativity allowed the audience to view the art of creativity from various dimensions. Another thought provoking talk on creativity by our Registrar, PT. Kamlesh Arya saw the audience totally imbued on the slides he shared with us on making the most of creative art from discarded items. His talk on creativity left many thinking on ways we too can engage in meaningful creations. The programme also heard a brief talk by the coordinator of Creative Circle, Ms. Kamala Naiker, highlighting the reasons behind organising these events. She stressed on the need for higher education providers like The University of Fiji to embrace a variety of ingenious flair of our students and staff. She emphasised that UniFiji Creative Circle provides opportunities for art and cultural expressions of our society and she vouched that this time the Artistic Creativity by students will be a surprise and relished by one and all.
Today’s event saw creativity at its best when with the curtain raiser; Ashita Ram performing a spectacular traditional Indian Bharat Natiyaam. Her art of mastering this momentous Indian dance saw the crowd steered in proximity with the creator itself. We also witnessed a classical dance by Chhaya , Ashita and Deepam. The highlight of the programme was original poetry recitals in three languages: English, Hindi and iTaukei read by Tatoka, Radhika and Suvishna. It is pleasing to note that Creative Circle encompasses the significance of Fiji’s vernacular languages.
Also, Taina demonstrated an iTaukei weaving; everyone present for the function got their hands on experience in weaving of Tabua string and dressing belt. The display of colourful paintings by Chhaya, Rajnesh and Monsiha thrilled the audience on their artistic gifts. Creative circle has lived up to its name by including yet another form of art, a pencil drawing competition by staff and students of the university. The programme got better by the hour when the audience actively entailed in drawing and colouring.
The audience marvelled creativity at its best and enjoyed every minute of this enlivening and vitalizing work of talented artists, writers and designers. The audience was thrilled when a demonstration by Chhaya and Kavita got them involved in designing greeting cards.
The creative functions here at UniFiji give mileage to our talented, multi-skilled students to expose their hidden artistic gifts and share these productive activities with their friends.
The Department of Language, Literature and Communication is joining dots for a bigger scope and blanket coverage for the cultures of Fiji, appreciating local creativity.
The programme ended with enjoyment and lavish refreshments.
Coordinator
Kamala Naiker