 |
QUICK LINKS |
|
|
| Press Releases |
|
Visual Artist, Edna Belo comes from the village of Fa’alau on the island of Malaita in the Solomon Islands.
She is here in Fiji as part of the Solomon Islands delegation to the Melanesian Arts Festival. With three other women, Edna has brought dozens of tafuliae from home to share and showcase to other Melanesian friends visiting the Festival.
 |
| Edna displaying her shell money |
Tafuliae or shell money as it is commonly known is a necklace made from shells and polished into small rings that are stringed together to make a brownish, white or black necklace.
According to Edna, shell money used to be the main means of currency for Solomon Islanders before the country adopted the monetary system of dollars and cents.
She said making the strings of shell money was a long process where shells were cleaned, washed, polished and then drilled. Because of the long process and the beautiful result, shell money was treasured by the people in the Solomon Islands.
Said Edna, shell money is the craft of the Malaita people, especially those who live along the shore. And it is still used to pay the bride price for young women back home.
Bride price shells are long and layered. It is said that the more a bride carries on her neck and in her hands when she is presented to her in-laws the more she is seen to be worth to her family, also signaling the worth and how she is expected to be treated by her husband to be and future in laws.
Edna says, “Nowadays shell money is still used to exchange for currency. If someone from the village wants to pay school fees or buy school things for their children they can bring strings of shell money with them and exchange it for money outside the bank or at the local market.”
“With shell money you can always be sure of getting currency because people will always buy it,” she said. “Shell money is used in a lot of our ceremonies and remains important to us.”
Here at the festival the shell money necklaces has been very popular with the younger generations, the necklace being a popular fashion in Fiji
Edna’s shell money necklaces are selling for $20 -$30 at the Solomon Islands booth at the Civic Auditorium. It is a smaller version of the original bride price shell money
Meanwhile Edna says she is very happy to be a part of the Melanesian Arts Festival especially since it enabled her to visit Fiji.
She said she hopes to be able to visit some of her wantok in Wailoku whom she has heard have lived in Fiji for the last hundred years.
-End-
 Top of Page
|
|
|
