Letila Mitchell is a Rotuman performing artist from Fiji, and currently undertaking her Doctor of Creative Industries at QUT. Letila is the Managing and Artistic Director of Rako, a multi-disciplinary artist and designer collective. She is Former Director of the Fiji Arts Council, Founder and Secretary General for the Pacific Arts Alliance, and Member of the Commonwealth Group for Culture and Development. Letila has trained and worked as an arts manager, producer and project manager, and as a practicing artist in the Pacific region for the past 17 years. She has gained experience and education working internationally in London, the US, Australia and New Zealand. She has worked extensively in the Pacific arts and cultural sector, and trade and tourism, both at community and government level. Her current consultancy and development work focuses on cultural entrepreneurship, arts education, arts for social change, and developing Pacific models for environmental and cultural sustainability through the creative industries.
Letila’s research project explores Rotuman creative practice in the context of Indigenous Oceanic knowledge. It seeks to develop a model for engagement in and with heritage practices as systems of knowledge, in particular, focusing on ecological principles and an embodied approach to creating new work. The study aims to deepen knowledge and strengthen creative practice that links Indigenous knowledge, cultural activism and biodiversity conservation.