Stopover

Indians first came to Fiji as indentured labourers in 1879. Since the Rabuka coup d'état in 1987, and three subsequent Fiji coups, Indian-Fijians have been emigrating from the country in earnest. STOPOVER is a haunting suite of Bruce Connew photographs from the tiny Indian-Fijian sugar cane settlement of Vatiyaka, taken during seven visits between June 2000 and November 2003, placing an extended family inside a story of migration. Connew's narrative captions and a short story by Brij V Lal, Professor of Pacific and Asian History at the Australian National University, take the reader to the heart of an embattled life. STOPOVER will open as an exhibition at Pataka, Porirua, Wellington, on 18th August, 2007.