This week a strong and determined crowd of 365 women from the Central Division converged at Suva’s Sukuna Park for their annual craft show.
They travelled from as far as the upper reaches of the Wainibuka River, the remote hinterland of Namosi and Naitasiri while others crossed the seas from Beqa Island.
In the mix of this large movement of women artisans, were wheelchair-driven Litia Naitanui, and crutches-assisted Lusiana Buli, who travelled from Burebasaga in the province of Rewa.
The two siblings represented Rewa Disabled Women’s Association and complemented the festivities with their brand of flamboyant traditional attire and a variety of crafts made from pandanus leaves.
It was encouraging to see them, as well as individuals and groups turn up in large numbers to showcase their talents and try and earn an income to take home, an indication of the leaps and bounds made by authorities to salvage women out of poverty and empower them economically.
Throughout history, women have been involved in art, as creators, patrons, collectors, contributors, teachers and critics.
Women have been and continue to be an integral part of the world of art, but despite being engaged with the art in every way, many women artists have faced challenges due to gender biases, from finding difficulty in training to selling their work and gaining recognition.
Although Western mythology contends that a woman was the first artist, her female successors received very little attention until the end of the 20th century.
Globally, only a small sample of women found their way into the legion of the world’s great artists, overcoming the limitations of their gender in order to excel in what was believed to be a man’s realm.
But the tide is slowly turning all over the world, Fiji included.
Apart from pottery, Fijian craftswomen are traditionally known for making masi, which is fashioned out of the bark of mulberry trees and then decorated with natural dyes using totemic designs representing a particular region of the country.
Masi was traditionally used as a loin cloth and associated with various cultural rituals, but is now also commonly given as a gift on formal occasions and used to make art like wall hangings and table coasters.
The women of Vatulele, located south of Viti Levu, are renowned for making this artefact. Female traditional artisans also make mats and baskets by weaving together leaves of the pandanus tree or voivoi (and sometimes the coconut palm).
This process involves many steps, including gathering, de-thorning, boiling, drying and sun-bleaching the leaves and then decorating the woven mats with borders of coloured wool.
The mats come in different sizes and are often given as wedding gifts or funeral items and are a popular tourist product in Fiji.
This week’s craft show, the last of the country’s divisions, as well as others held over the past few years, has helped revive the skills of cultural artefacts that would otherwise slowly fade away in the face of change or as we adopt more modern and popular art forms.
It also ensures that knowledge of many crafts and stylish expressions are shared among women artisans and groups, and that a professional space is created for women to network.
In Fiji, since 2014 efforts have been made through the National Women’s Expo to empower women economically and recognise their talents and provide market access through the “Fijian Made” emblem and licenses provided by the Ministry for Industry, Trade and Tourism.
“This is a platform where women celebrate their recognised and unrecognised talents which they have acquired through generations or from other women in the society,” said permanent secretary for women Dr Josefa Koroivueta.
Since that inaugural 2014 event, efforts have been made to focus and improve on the quality of crafts produced to enable women to access markets and create a benchmark in product standards.
It is also an area in which Fiji, as one of the signatories to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), has been working tirelessly in an effort to empower women and promote gender equality.
One such area of focus has been the need to capacitate women economically, setting a direct pathway towards gender equality, poverty eradication and inclusive and equitable economic growth.
The fact is women make enormous contributions to economies, whether in businesses, on farms, as entrepreneurs or employees, or by doing unpaid care work at home.
Women are also resilient and resourceful economic agents, overcoming persistent, genderbased barriers to advance the health, education and economic security of their families.
Evidence shows that women’s full participation in the economy drives economic growth and wider national development goals.
But despite the promise of women’s potential and contribution to nation building, stability and prosperity, women also remain disproportionately affected by poverty, discrimination and exploitation.
Gender discrimination means women often end up in insecure, low-wage jobs, and constitute a small minority of those in senior positions.
This curtails their access to economic assets such as land and loans.
It limits their participation in shaping economic and social policies.
According to UN statistics, globally, over 2.7 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men, women remain less likely to participate in the labour market than men, are more likely to be unemployed and are paid less than men.
Furthermore, women are less likely than men to have access to financial institutions or have a bank account, are less likely to be
entrepreneurs and face more disadvantages starting businesses, constrained from achieving the highest leadership positions and face harassment at work.
In Fiji, women not only make up half of the population, they form the backbone of Fijian families.
Previously, women were only seen as nurturers and caregivers of the home.
Those who managed to break barriers found jobs but only in fields that attracted low pays and were regarded feminine.
But with their roles rapidly changing against a backdrop of human rights, they are making unbelievable impacts in our communities and society, a far cry from what the situation used to be in the past when they enjoyed unequal rights to access resources, education, employment and decision making.
Today, our women are creating names for themselves in the field of politics, education, business and medicine, among other professions.
Our women artisans who showcased their handiworks in Suva this week may have only made enough to take home a smile of contentment but they continue to impact their families in a big way.
Through their toils, food is placed on the table, children go to school, domestic needs are met and their families can face the challenges of the modern world. In the end, women’s economic empowerment is central to realising women’s rights and
gender equality and includes women’s ability to “participate equally in existing markets, their access to and control over productive resources, access to decent work, control over their own time and lives and increased voice, agency and meaningful participation in economic decision-making at all levels.
Empowering women economically and closing gender gaps in the world of work are key to achieving the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and sustainable development goals, particularly goal eight, to achieve gender equality, and goal eight, to promote full and productive employment and decent work for all.
It also addressed goal one on ending poverty, goal two on food security, goal three on ensuring health and goal 10 on reducing inequalities.
Cheers to all our women artisans around the country and hope you all have a successful 2019 National Women’s Expo to be staged later in the year.
