Editing Samoa (section)

===Contemporary culture===
[[Albert Wendt]] is a significant Samoan writer whose novels and stories tell the Samoan experience. In 1989, his novel ''[[Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree]]'' was made into a feature film in New Zealand, directed by [[Martyn Sanderson]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/feature-project/pages/Flying-Fox.php |title=NZ Feature Project: Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree – The New Zealand Film Archive |access-date=30 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525162414/http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/feature-project/pages/Flying-Fox.php |archive-date=25 May 2010}}</ref> Another novel ''[[Sons for the Return Home]]'' had also been made into a feature film in 1979, directed by [[Paul Maunder]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/feature-project/pages/SFTRH.php |title=NZ Feature Project: Sons For the Return Home – The New Zealand Film Archive |access-date=30 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525170130/http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/feature-project/pages/SFTRH.php |archive-date=25 May 2010}}</ref>

The late [[John Kneubuhl]], born in American Samoa, was an accomplished playwright and screenwriter and writer. His play ''Think of Garden'' premiered in Auckland in 1993 a year after his death, it was directed by [[Nathaniel Lees]], is set in 1929 and is about Samoa's struggle for independence.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Think of a Garden |url=https://tadb.otago.ac.nz/theatre/Web/WebSearch.php?Session=Guest-X-196495610 |access-date=2022-01-27 |website=Theatre Aotearoa Data Base |archive-date=27 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127092723/https://tadb.otago.ac.nz/theatre/Web/WebSearch.php?Session=Guest-X-196495610 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-01-17 |title=Samoan history play 'Think of a Garden' to be staged, literally, in a garden |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/100505127/samoan-history-play-think-of-a-garden-to-be-staged-literally-in-a-garden |access-date=2022-01-27 |website=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] |language=en |archive-date=27 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127092717/https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/100505127/samoan-history-play-think-of-a-garden-to-be-staged-literally-in-a-garden |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Sia Figiel]] won the 1997 [[Commonwealth Writers' Prize]] for fiction in the south-east Asia/South Pacific region with her novel "Where We Once Belonged".

[[Momoe Malietoa Von Reiche]] is an internationally recognised poet and artist.

[[Tusiata Avia]] is a performance poet. Her first book of poetry ''Wild Dogs Under My Skirt'' was published by Victoria University Press in 2004.
[[Dan Taulapapa McMullin]] is an artist and writer.

Other Samoan poets and writers include [[Sapa'u Ruperake Petaia]], [[Eti Sa'aga]] and [[Savea Sano Malifa]], the editor of the [[Samoa Observer]].

In music, popular local bands include [[The Five Stars]], Penina o Tiafau and Punialava'a.
[[The Yandall Sisters]]' cover of the song ''Sweet Inspiration'' reached number one on the New Zealand charts in 1974.

[[King Kapisi]] was the first hip hop artist to receive the prestigious New Zealand [[Australasian Performing Right Association|APRA]] Silver Scroll Award in 1999 for his song ''Reverse Resistance''. The music video for ''Reverse Resistance'' was filmed in Savai'i at his villages.

Other successful Samoan hip hop artists include rapper [[Scribe (rapper)|Scribe]], [[Dei Hamo]], [[Savage (rapper)|Savage]] and [[Tha Feelstyle]] whose music video ''Suamalie'' was filmed in Samoa.

[[Lemi Ponifasio]] is a director and choreographer who is prominent internationally with his dance Company MAU.<ref>[http://www.mau.co.nz/ Home] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512013259/http://www.mau.co.nz/ |date=12 May 2011 }}. Mau.co.nz. Retrieved on 9 November 2016.</ref>
[[Neil Ieremia]]'s company [[Black Grace]] has also received international acclaim with tours to Europe and New York.

[[Hip hop]] has had a significant impact on Samoan culture. According to Katerina Martina Teaiwa, PhD from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, "Hip hop culture in particular is popular amongst Samoan youth."<ref name="Dances">[https://web.archive.org/web/20080308172004/http://www.piccom.org/dancesoflife/samoa.html Dances of Life |American Samoa]. piccom.org</ref> As in many other countries, hip hop music is popular. In addition, the integration of hip hop elements into Samoan tradition also "testifies to the transferability of the dance forms themselves," and to the "circuits through which people and all their embodied knowledge travel."<ref>Henderson, April K. "Dancing Between Islands: Hip Hop and the Samoan Diaspora." In The Vinyl Ain't Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 180–199. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, 2000</ref> Dance both in its traditional form and its more modern forms has remained a central cultural currency to Samoans, especially youths.<ref name="Dances" />

The arts organisation ''[[Tautai Pacific Arts Trust]]'' was an informal collective of visual artists including [[Fatu Feu'u]], [[Johnny Penisula]], [[Shigeyuki Kihara]], [[Michel Tuffery]], and [[Lily Laita]] in the 1980s and formalised into a trust in 1995 and is now a leading Pacific arts organisation directed by [[Aanoalii Rowena Fuluifaga]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Appointment of new Tautai Director, Aanoalii Rowena Fuluifaga {{!}} New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc) Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa |url=https://authors.org.nz/appointment-of-new-tautai-director-aanoalii-rowena-fuluifaga/ |access-date=2023-12-02 |language=en-US |archive-date=2 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202220026/https://authors.org.nz/appointment-of-new-tautai-director-aanoalii-rowena-fuluifaga/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Yamauchi, C. (2014). Talking Story about Art and Life: Narratives of Contemporary Oceanic Artists and Their Work.</ref> [[Marilyn Kohlhase]] ran a Pacific focused gallery called ''[[Okaioceanikart]]'' from 2007 to 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kohlhase |first=Marilyn |title=The Okaioceanikart Story |url=https://pantograph-punch.com//posts/the-okaioceanikart-story,%20https://pantograph-punch.com//posts/the-okaioceanikart-story |access-date=2022-01-27 |website=Pantograph Punch }}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Other important Samoan contemporary artists include [[Andy Leleisi'uao]], and [[Raymond Sagapolutele]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-12-07 |title=Andy Leleisi'uao wins 2017 Wallace Art Award |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/andy-leleisiuao-wins-2017-wallace-art-award/4BJ5JCAJP7RS576EXDIEY7NRG4/ |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |language=en-NZ |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207184925/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/andy-leleisiuao-wins-2017-wallace-art-award/4BJ5JCAJP7RS576EXDIEY7NRG4/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-12 |title=Aua e te fefe: Art exhibition challenges audience 'Don't be afraid' |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/476517/aua-e-te-fefe-art-exhibition-challenges-audience-don-t-be-afraid |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=[[RNZ]] |language=en-nz |archive-date=9 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240209054510/https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/476517/aua-e-te-fefe-art-exhibition-challenges-audience-don-t-be-afraid |url-status=live }}</ref>

Director [[Sima Urale]] is a filmmaker. Urale's short film ''O Tamaiti'' won the prestigious Best Short Film at the [[Venice Film Festival]] in 1996. Her first feature film ''Apron Strings'' opened the 2008 [[New Zealand International Film Festivals|NZ International Film Festival]]. The feature film ''[[Siones Wedding]]'', co-written by [[Oscar Kightley]], was financially successful following premieres in Auckland and Apia. The 2011 film [[The Orator (film)|The Orator]] was the first ever fully Samoan film, shot in Samoa in the Samoan language with a Samoan cast telling a uniquely Samoan story. Written and directed by [[Tusi Tamasese]], it received much critical acclaim and attention at film festivals throughout the world.