ABSTRACT
The people of the Moana (Pacific) had no word for art as it is understood in the Western sense. There was simply no need, for art was woven into the very fabric of society and across a vast artistic heritage spanning 3,000 years. The practical and the beautiful coexisted, and were used in social activities, rituals, and celebrations. Art circulated through society in a constant cycle of reciprocation through the maintenance of Vā relationships—which connect all social activities, rituals, and celebrations. In Samoan culture, Vā is a term encapsulating relational activities binding all people and all things together across time in the form of relationships and reciprocal obligations. This chapter explores the index of the Vā through an examination of the author’s contemporary Pacific artistic practice.
