Ono is six in Fijian, and the district of Kadavu, Fiji that artist-curator and Vunilagi Vou founder, Vasemaca Tavola hails from.

This tea towel depicts a symbolic story at the juncture of Vunilagi Vou’s 6th anniversary. It pays homage to totems and transformation, building and breaking, signs, surrender, literature and luck, moonlight and magic. Gratitude to the plants that have survived Vunilagi Vou’s transiency, the lessons of Covid-19, the gift of a sewing machine, yoga and meditation, and the love of a wild dog.

“The tea is always hot, Ōtāhuhu forever, Southside til I die.” 

A lovely Ink-dyed 100% cotton domestic textile suitable for drying dishes or hanging on a wall. 

Printed and designed in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa New Zealand.

Print area: 400x600mm | 2025

Vasemaca (FKA Ema) Tavola is a Fijian-Pākehā artist-curator currently based in South Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. Tavola’s practice is aligned with the politics of decolonisation and indigenous feminisms, motherhood, and histories of BIPOC art and activism in the Global South. She established her painting practice in Suva, Fiji before relocating to South Auckland where she studied sculpture and arts management, and is currently undertaking postgraduate research in applied indigenous knowledge.

Since 2004, Tavola has produced curatorial projects for galleries and museums throughout Aotearoa and travelled extensively speaking on her approach to indigenous curatorial practice. In 2019, she established Vunilagi Vou, a shapeshifting gallery, creative studio and consultancy advocating for creative practice as a tool for connection, healing and decolonisation.

As a visual artist, Tavola has been exhibiting since 2000 showing in Fiji, Aotearoa, Europe, North America, Australia and the Pacific. She has work in public and private collections both nationally and internationally.

Born in Suva, Tavola is proud to belong to Mataqali Navusalevu, a sub-tribe of Natusara, from the village of Dravuni, the northernmost inhabited island of the province of Kadavu, Fiji.

For more information, see https://vasemacatavola.com/about/