Suga Skull by Pele Loi
Pele paints a contemporary visualisation of icons of Samoan culture. The tanoa becomes a crown, a tuiga made of tatau symbols, flowing ribbons of elei, and flowers adorn a skull.
Suli: Re-Storying Inheritance – COMING SOON
Contextual and Biblical Hermeneutics from Samoa and Moana-nui. “E se’i le futi ae toto le suli.” A doctoral thesis by latuivai Kioa Latu, published in 2025 by Piula Publications, Apia Samoa and Missionshilfe Verlag, Hamburg, Germany.
“SULI: Re-Storying Inheritance: Contextual and Biblical Hermeneutics from Samoa and Moana-nui takes on, with critical erudition and lamentation, the contagious combination of the Christian Bible, law, and politics in the interpretation and regulation of land issues in Samoa. Through a contextual, relational, and decolonial lens, Latu presents a provocative Suli hermeneutics to investigate biblical inheritance narratives and the role of Samoan Christianity in their reception, but also as a gesture towards reaffirming ‘ele’ele or land as the birthing center for understanding being and knowing in Pasifika. This is a call for a theological re-storying to safeguard land as inheritance, and a valuable Ala’imoana, ‘the way in and of the moana,’ for anyone who wants to learn Samoan theology.” Upolu Lumā Vaai, Professor of Theology and Ethics and Principal, Pacific Theological College, Suva, Fiji.
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Tanielu the Brave – O Tanielu le Toa
Only $10 USD (approximate currency conversion) Making Samoan language learning fun with engaging stories and relateable characters! Meet Tanielu, a young boy who lives in Ranui and who loves to play rugby and wants to be just like Ardie Savea – the greatest All Black ever! But Tanielu has just one problem – he is too small and all the other boys are much bigger than him! How will Tanielu overcome his fear? Will he ever get to play in the team?
Read together with your child in both English and Samoan – this ebook is sure to become a fast favorite! Download your ebook to your phone, tablet or e-reader and read together today.
Tanka
Playing with poem structure, paint, and Samoan markings.
Small paintings inspired by the 7 metre by 2 metre works (pic 6) I created for the VIP Terminal Lounge at Faleolo International Airport.
A tanka poem is derived from Japanese poetry arranged in five lines with a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable count.
Telesa – The Covenant Keeper
An island of secrets. A girl on fire. An epic battle of the elements. The book that started it all…
Only $10 USD (approx currency conversion)
Telesa. Print Book, Paperback.
Only $18 USD (approx currency conversion). Includes postage. This print book cannot be supplied to customers in NZ or Australia.
An island of secrets. A girl on fire. An epic battle of the elements. The book that started it all…
Leila Folger escapes the stifling misery of life with her American grandmother and goes to Samoa searching to connect with her mother’s family. All her efforts to learn more about the mother she never knew are met with hostility. What really happened eighteen years ago when her father fled the island with his infant daughter? Why is everyone afraid to even talk about the woman he once loved? What is a ‘telesā’ and why does even the mention of her name strike such fear in everyone Leila meets? And why is Leila having vivid nightmares about a mother she can’t remember? Her quest for truth takes a thrilling turn when she meets Daniel Tahi, irresistibly compelling with his island-warrior tattoos, breath-taking jade eyes and golden smile. What is it in Daniel’s mysterious past that binds him and Leila so closely? When Leila discovers she is heir to a fiery birthright, she must choose between the Sisterhood and the boy she loves. Can they overcome all that divides them, even the very elements?
The Bone Bearer
The Bone Bearer. Print Book, Paperback.
Only $18 USD (approx currency conversion). Includes postage. This print book cannot be supplied to customers in NZ or Australia.
The thrilling, breathlessly anticipated conclusion to The Telesa Series. Leila’s selfless act at the closing of ‘When Water Burns,’ unleashed the demonic fury of Pele the Fire Goddess and now Daniel must fight an epic battle to free the one he loves. Unlikely allies come to his aid as a group of troubled elementals try to overcome their differences and work as a team to save their friend. But Pele’s awakening has caused cataclysmic fear throughout the Telesa guardians of the Pacific and they are gathering their forces, preparing to defend the Blue Continent from the devastating threat of the Fire Goddess. Only one thing can destroy her – the Tangaloa Bone. The race is on to recover the three pieces of this ancient weapon and the question remains: who will wield the power of the Bone Bearer? And can Leila survive its apocalyptic fury? Will the covenant of love between Daniel and Leila endure this final battle?
The Cleaner
The first painting of every year is significant.
It sets the tone, mood, style, and benchmark for the year.
The Cleaner was my first for 2024.
It’s a figurative painting of a woman with a broom.
She wears only a lavalava and a sei.
Inspirations.
1. I fell in love with a sculpture by Italian artist Ernesto Coter while eating in his kitchen at Santa Maria Rezzonico a few weeks earlier. The sculpture was sitting on the sideboard beside his dining table. He said it is a Samoan woman dancing. This painting is a response to the sculpture (Pic 5)
2. A new year inspires a fresh look at life, reassessment, and decluttering. It’s not the first time my first painting for a new year has included a broom. It’s about spring cleaning your life as a new year begins.
3. Spending time with my family gave me a fresh respect for two of my sisters who each successfully run their own cleaning businesses in Queensland. It’s more interesting and complex work than I expected, and what they do for their clients is admirable.
I wanted to honour cleaners so I painted gold behind her head to show she is iconic.
And she had a gold broom.
4. Samoans sweep everything regularly – the beach, the grass the house, and everything.
5. A woman with a broom is a timeless and common sight in the background of every culture and every age. I want to uplift and highlight this symbol.
As a goddess. With an iconic halo.
We have often been this person and often see this person. And they’re important and essential.
They get rid of crap and they make the world more beautiful.
Goddesses.
6. I painted a blue ocean type background because I was seeing a lot from the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai, while painting. Many people I know were there representing island nations of the Pacific Ocean.











