The story behind Lambert Hall’s mural
ANYONE who has visited Marist Brothers High School and entered the hallowed sanctum of “Lambert Hall” would immediately be struck by the mural that adorns the stage backdrop.
It has seen thousands of students enter and leave the learning centre, but what do the images in the mural mean and who was the artist?
In October this year, Lambert Hall was rebranded “Brother Lambert Hall” in honour of Brother Lambert Belahanty, one of Fiji’s foremost educators and The Fiji Times thought it would be fitting to reveal some of the “secrets” behind the mural and the artist who came up with the concept and the meaning behind it.
For a long time, it was one of the biggest and most intriguing works of modern art in the Pacific.
Thousands of people from all over Fiji, the Pacific and internationally would have seen it over the decades. However, its meaning was unknown but to the artist and a handful of his peers.
Some former scholars would know who the artist is — Marist Old Boy and distinguished academic Professor Steven Ratuva, an award-winning global interdisciplinary scholar at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand.
He explained it was a depiction of Fiji’s multicultural society through the eyes of a young teenager.
“There are 12 frames representing 12 months in a year, which is symbolic of the human life-cycle from birth to death,” Prof Ratuva said.
“The two shadowy figures in each frame represent the role of human agency in shaping history, relationship and human values. Their actions are indicative of different human values and relationships, some of which are peaceful and some of which are destructive.
“These include ethnic cooperation, political competition, moral empathy, inclusion, exclusion, peace, conflict, religious tolerance, domination and liberation. Each frame has a unique theme which is related to other themes in other frames.
“These are some of the issues which are still current and shaping Fiji and the world today.”
There are three levels of artistic narratives in the mural; the aesthetic, the psychological and the philosophical.
“The aesthetic is to do with the autumn colour combination and the jigsaw pattern which has a Fijian cultural flavour of abstract masi.
“The psychological level provides viewers with a sense of movement and one dimensional representation of life.
“The philosophical dimension refers to the meanings in the form of the moral and ethical narratives and values mentioned earlier.
“It tells the larger story of multiculturalism in Fiji and humanity generally.” How did it start?
In the late ’70s, then principal Brother Majella asked Prof Ratuva, who was regarded the school’s best artist — and nicknamed “DaVinci” by students — to
“blot out the monotony of the bare walls with something inspiring and meaningful”.
“I searched my mind for the most appropriate theme and artistic style and began to look at some of the artistic and philosophical approaches I had been inspired by — Leonardo DaVinci’s spiritual realism, Salvador Dali’s surrealism, Claud Monet’s impressionism and Pablo Picasso’s cubism, were the main contenders,” Prof Ratuva said.
He settled with Picasso’s cubism because of its ability to run the mind through various confusing dimensions, outside the normal three dimensions we are used to, as well as the fact that Picasso was a social critic and an anti-fascist and anti-war activist.
He used abstract art and philosophical symbolism to project his message of peace.
“But my problem and worry was that Brother Majella only gave me two weeks, and I didn’t have time to complete a multi-dimensional Picasso-type mural, which would take months.
“Then everything changed when I saw a large Suva City Council road roller used by workers to repair the Bau St potholes in front of the school at Flagstaff. I had a sudden burst of inspiration.
“What if I take Picasso’s multi-dimensional style, put it on the road, and mentally run a roller over it until it becomes one-dimensional?”
He ran back inside the hall, had another look at the wall, sketched his plan on paper and showed the draft to Brother Majella who remarked “Are you sure you won’t insult all the millions of Picasso fans around the world when they hear that you are destroying his artistic invention by running a road roller over it?”
Bro Majella succumbed to the argument, and it was completed in two weeks.
After the mural was completed, there were diverse reactions with people trying to interpret the human actions in different ways. Some thought they had to do with sports because Lambert Hall had been the only real sports venue in Suva for years before the national gymnasium was built in 1979 for the South Pacific Games.
Prof Ratuva said he still has a private chuckle when he hears discussion over the mural and its meaning.
Today, academic life had taken over his artistic ambitions and Prof Ratuva said he hopes to continue with painting, cartoon drawing and sketching once he retires in Fiji after his international journey ends.
He used to draw political cartoons for newspapers and magazines in Fiji and Pacific.
“But my problem is that there’s no retirement age for my job, so I might retire prematurely at the age of 90!”
Together with art, Prof Ratuva is also a keyboard musician, who, together with music composer and entertainer Sailasa Tora, formed a band called the “Spice Boys” which played at functions at the University of the South Pacific and private parties. And at one time he was also briefly President of the Fiji Bodybuilding Federation.
A man of many talents indeed.