Feasts and Festivals

Glenn Jowitt's documentary photography records a range of colourful ceremonies that remain an important part of life from many New Zealand Pacific Island communities.

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The love of colour is so strong in the Islands that it is transplanted to wherever Pacific people live. However, beneath the colourful costumes, flowers and other embellishments are deeply significant traditional ceremonies which remain an integral part of the cultural luggage that Island peoples brought with them on their journey to New Zealand. These include religious observances, songs, dances and traditional rites of passage. Feasts and Festivals is a splendid photographic showcase for some of these vibrant South Pacific festivities, many of which have become a part of New Zealand's urban life, particularly in Auckland, now truly the world's largest Polynesian city.