Ceremonies
CEREMONIES
We celebrate the occasion of being human through eye to eye contact. We believe the
theatre, a festival, a meeting is this occasion. We instigate these rituals of encounter
such as ava ceremony and faikava to actualise our respect for each other and to harness
our preparedness, to acknowledge the coming together of the community and to
reinforce our connectedness as human, sharpening our focus and our engagement in
why we gather, signalling us towards our potentiality.
Ava Ceremony
In Samoa the ava ceremony is practiced whenever there is an official gathering of the
chiefs. This sacred ceremony is held to welcome guests and to celebrate special
occasions. The ava ceremony is referred to as le saofa 'iga ma atua, which means
gathering or assembly among the gods.
Faikava
Faikava (to do kava) is the informal socialized ritual drinking of kava along with
conversation that ranges from philosophy, sports, art, jokes, politics, to love and also the
discussion of the welfare of the community with laughter and the singing of traditional
love songs.