Winning submission featured at the exhibition and book The Other Hundred Entrepeneur .
Wally Faleka, 44, has run Village level art and Graphics since 1989 in his home village of Fo’ondo on Malaita, one of the Solomon Islands. An artist, screen printer, sign writer, teacher and occasional taxi driver, he lives and works in a small house with his wife and seven children, four of them adopted from other relatives.
Despite the island’s lack of running water and electricity, Wally has developed his own screen printing technique, recycling x-ray plastics and surgical knives from a nearby hospital for making and cutting his stencils. Whenever he can get his hands on some emulsion, he uses sunlight and water from his water tank to expose his designs onto cloth screens.
Through the year, he designs and paints banners and t-shirts for events and meetings held on the island. Every Christmas, he creates his own collection of special t-shirts that he sells in Auki, the island’s capital.
Since he bought an old car two years ago, he has also travelled around the island giving free workshops where he shows women how to dye and screen-print beach wraps known as “lava-lavas”. Afterwards, many of these women carry on creating their designs and products that they then sell.
When orders dry up, Wally works as a taxi driver, earning enough to pay a mechanic to keep his car maintained.
Village Level Art and Graphics has the support of Malaita Project .
Pictures of the exhibition for the launching of the book in Hong Kong (2015)
Wally screenprinting at home while two of his children pay attention.
Cutting his design on a recycled x-ray plastic using a surgical knife.
Washing a screen with designs previously exposed to sunlight.
Selling a t-shirt in Auki town.
Working on a design for a big banner.
Painting a banner under his house.
Wally and his son Ian, helping the mechanic to fix Villege Level Art & Graphics’ car.
Explaining how to fold a fabric before dying it at one of the workshops in Baunani.
Teaching how to dye the fabrics correctly for getting the right pattern.
The group from Maoro village showing all their creations after the workshop.
