Working along Fiji’s beautiful Coral Coast is a blessing for Laisa Basirau who spends her days turning glass fragments into something beautiful.
One of the few Fijian women working as a glassblower at Hot Glass Fiji, Ms Basirau has risen through the ranks over the past decade to become project manager of Loloma Glass, a jewellery collection born from the studio’s broken pieces.
Originally from Korotogo Village, her journey into glassblowing was not mapped out from childhood.
Growing up, she never felt confined to a single path. She believed she could do anything, “men’s work and women’s work at the same time”.
Career plans were fluid, shaped more by circumstances than certainty. Straight out of high school, university had been the hope.
But life had other plans, she became a young mother, while this new responsibility paused her academic ambitions it did not diminish her resolve.
“That didn’t pull me down. I kept going, because that’s not the end of the world,” she said.
Determined to provide, she began babysitting to earn an income. Later, she worked in the hospitality industry at local resorts, all while caring for her sick father. It was during that period that opportunity arrived. The founder of Hot Glass Fiji was looking for an assistant in the studio.
“I love trying new things out.”
She joined the team in 2014.
What began as a role assisting in the studio evolved into hands-on training in glassblowing, a craft which demands patience, precision and resilience. Over the years, she progressed from glassblower to studio manager.
Today, she leads Loloma Glass as project manager, overseeing both the design and day-to-day production of the jewellery line. This steady progress is underpinned by a fierce commitment to learning.
“I would say I’m not a professional because glassblowing is a learning process. You learn a new thing every day.”
Glass, she said, was both unforgiving and transformative.
Heat, timing and technique must align because a slight miscalculation can shatter hours of work. Yet even in breakage, there is possibility. That realisation sparked the idea behind Loloma Glass. In the studio, broken shards and discarded fragments once accumulated as by-products of the glassblowing process. Rather than throw them away, the team began asking a simple question: Why not turn them into wearable art? The answer became a new product line grounded in sustainability and creativity.
“We don’t throw them away. We reuse them, making these beautiful pieces.”
The name ‘Loloma’, meaning love, reflects both their affection for the craft and their respect for the environment. Each piece carries a story of reinvention, fragments reimagined as earrings, pendants and other adornments that now travel far beyond Korotogo to boutique shops at various resorts and retail outlets.
Ms Basirau’s journey through life mirrors the glass she shapes daily, tested by fire, refined through experience and transformed into something stronger.
Today, as she guides Loloma Glass into new designs and markets, she continues to embody the very philosophy behind the brand, that even what seems broken can be reshaped into something of worth.
Hot Glass Fiji’s Loloma Glass pieces. Picture: ALIFERETI SAKIASI
INSET:Laisa’s personal glass art pieces on display. Picture: ALIFERETI SAKIASI
