The Royal Samoa Police Band made its first visit to Australia recently as part of a production called 'Siamani Samoa'. The work explored the ongoing influence of the German colonial administration of Samoa in the early 20th century.

In Siamani Samoa, which means 'German Samoa', the Royal Samoa Police Band played in front of a video installation and alongside other performers.

The special event was staged at Sydney's Carriageworks after four years in development by polynesian artist Michel Tuffery, who was born in New Zealand to a Samoan mother and Rarotongan and Tahitian father.

The brass band played both German music and 'old school' Samoan music, accompanied by large scale photographs from the German administration period (1900-1914), including some by famous German photographers who were living in Samoa.

Pacific Beat's Sajiri Nithi asked Tuffery about the inspiration for his highly layered work which explores the German influence that remains to this day in music, architecture, food, landscape and songs in contemporary Samoa. His answers are featured below.

"A lot of us, the younger generation, don’t know much about the German period. So it's this grand opportunity for an audience to experience it like the elderly did."

"We were actually ruled under Germany before the first world war. So we were under the German administration for about fourteen years.

"Our very first governor, Wilhelm Solf had a humanities side to him. There was a policy from Germany that any German residents or foreign residents had to learn Samoan and Samoan custom.

"So that's why I became fascinated with that German period, not just 'cause I have German ancestry. But also what they contributed economically and agriculturally to Samoa.

"There used to be a lot of beautiful, gorgeous German buildings. The only one that's standing now is the courthouse."

The Royal Samoa Police Band plays in Apia every morning.

"It's a ritual that starts exactly 8.45. They leave from the police station and the new recruits march in front of them down to government house which is approximately 800m down from the police station. And then they basically do the flag raising with the national anthem, and then march back to the station...

It's a ritual that's been going since the '70s."

Read more, hear complete interview and see more photos at australiaplus.com