A new Pacific Island arts festival to be launched in Dunedin tomorrow night aims to give voice to the perspectives of Otago's Pasifika pupils.
The inaugural Otago Secondary Schools Pacific Perspectives Festival will be held at Otago Girls' High School, and will feature the skills of pupils in a competition with three categories - art, writing and speech.
Otago Girls' High School Pasifika dean and event organiser Sonia Panapa said the event was an opportunity for Pasifika pupils to voice their views of the world and the issues affecting them.
''I wanted to create something that would showcase the talents of Pasifika students - something that will give them a chance to talk, write and draw life from their perspective.''
Entries for the competition had been received from as far away as Oamaru, and it was hoped it would become a significant event on the schools' calendar.
Mrs Panapa expected about 100 people to attend the event, at which Otago NPC and former Highlander rugby player Ezra Taylor would speak.
