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iliami Tolutau created a bronze relief as part of the centennial celebration of LDS missionary work in Tonga, which the king and queen of Tonga attended. Tolutau also made sculptures for the grand re-opening of the International Marketplace in Honolulu. He said, “I want people to understand the significance of the message behind my work instead of focusing solely on the physical bronze sculptures.”
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BYU-Hawaii sculpting professor Viliami Tolutau stands in front of his sculptures of King Kamehameha IV, and his son Prince Albert. They are on display in the International Marketplace. Photo by Monique Saenz
Tolutau, a BYU-Hawaii sculpture professor from Tonga, said he helped create the monument to LDS missionary work in Tonga. He said it took the collaboration of an architect, a carpenter, Area Authorities and members of the Quorum of the Seventy. BYUH students from Tonga and seven LDS stakes in Tonga danced during the celebratory festival. Presiding at the celebration was President Russell M. Nelson, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Also in attendance was Elder John H. Groberg of the Seventy, a former missionary and mission president in Tonga. The film, “The Other Side of Heaven,” is based off his story. Elder Groberg, acquainted with the royal family since he was a young missionary, hosted the king and queen at several events and thanked them for allowing freedom of religion in the kingdom and for their support of the centennial. Also nine of the 11 living mission presidents attended the celebration. Among them was Eric B. Shumway, former president of BYUH, who edited a book for the centennial, “Tongan Saints, Legacy of Faith.” Shumway is also known as “Faivaola,” his chiefly title that was given to him since his early missionary days in 1959. He gave the opening remarks at the gathering. Retired BYUH faculty member and a former Tonga Mission president, Isileli T. Kongaika was also at the celebration. Tolutau’s bronze relief, that is part of the monument, is of the 1891 King Siaosi Tuku’aho, who is the great-grandfather of the present-day king of Tonga. The relief, which is a sculpture coming out of the flat surface, rests on one of the six sides of the monument. The other sides have plaques telling the story of the establishment of the LDS church in Tonga.
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