Pacific Starmap

The Waikato Museum and ArtsPost Galleries are calling for entries in the Fieldays No 8 Wire National Art Award 2009. Entrants are required to create a sculptural art piece out of No.8 wire. Entries must be submitted by 17 April 2009 and winners will be announced on 5th June 2009. Entries will then form part of an exhibition at the Waikato Museum. The award has a total prize pool of $10,000 with the winner receiving $4000. Waikato Museum Director, Kate Vusoniwailala, announced that two further awards have been added to the 2009 competition. The People’s Choice Award will be voted for by visitors to the exhibition and announced at the end of the exhibition. The President’s Award will be presented on the opening night by the President of the main sponsor, Fieldays.

Le Folauga: The Past Coming Forward is the first exhibition of contemporary Pacific art from New Zealand to be shown in a major fine arts museum in Asia. Supported by the Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust and curated by Fuli Pereira (Curator-Pacific at Auckland Museum) and Ron Brownson (Senior Curator Auckland Art Gallery), Le Folauga opened at the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts in Taiwan on 13 December 2008 and will run through until 5 April 2009. The name “Le Folauga” was suggested by Johnny Penisula, the veteran Samoan stone-carver from Invercargill, to encapsulate the idea of bringing the learned histories of the past into the future. The exhibition has been expanded from the original exhibition held in Auckland in 2007 and features the work of 16 artists including Edith Amituanai, Leanne Clayton, Fatu Feu’u, Steven Gwaliasi, Niki Hastings McFall, Lonnie Hutchinson, Leilani Kake, Shigeyuki Kihara, Andy Leleisi’uao, Janet Lilo, Itiri Ngaro, Ani O’Neill, Johnny Penisula, Filipe Tohi, Michel Tuffery, and Jim Vivieaere. Working in a range of media they demonstrate the breadth of talent there is among visual artists of Pacific heritage working in Aotearoa/New Zealand. This major exhibition marks another important milestone in the history of contemporary Pacific art and artists.

"Mixed Faletele" By Johnny Penisula

Two Pacific curators from Christchurch have collaborated to exhibit the work of several contemporary Pacific artists. Felolini Maria Ifopo is the architect behind “Baby You Can Drive My Car”, a photo essay of Pacific people in Christchurch. Commenting on the photographs, Maria said, “everyone has them; pictures of your family posing in front of cars. I’m hoping to capture – through the pictures, a documentary of Pacific Island people settling in Aotearoa to the present day.” Her art is also featured in “Bite Me!”, an exhibition of contemporary art curated by Stephanie Oberg which includes the work of other Christchurch-based artists Andy Leleisi’uao, Stone Maka, Lonnie Hutchinson, Raphael Stowers, and guest Niuean artist Cerisse Palalagi from Auckland. This provocative exhibition is grounded in the lived experiences of New Zealand-born Pacific artists, and challenges outmoded Pacific motifs and stereotypes. The public can view the exhibitions from Tuesday 16th December at Our City O Tautahi (corner of Oxford Terrace and Worcester Boulevard). They run until 4 February 2009.

"Baby You Can Drive my Car" and "Bite Me!" Christchurch, Our City O-Tautahi: 16.12.08 - 4.2.09

Four students of James Cook High School in Manurewa are taking their first major steps towards a career in the arts as they exhibit their wood carvings at the “Fresh08 – Best of Fresh Gallery Otara” exhibition in South Auckland. Bo Graham, Metz Eno Tito, Mathew Laban, and Priscilla Tata, worked under the guidance of John Ioane at James Cook High School to produce refreshing yet meditative pieces. John Ioane is a graduate from the Elam School of Fine Arts. He has taught art, sculpture, painting, and installations for many years. He has work in the permanent collections at Te Papa and Auckland Art Gallery and has exhibited in New York, Australia and New Zealand. He is a past winner of the Creative New Zealand Pacific Award for innovation and excellence and was earlier this year, the recipient of the Pacific Artist Residency at the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies (University of Canterbury). The James Cook students are exhibiting their work alongside other artists at the Fresh Gallery Otara. The exhibition runs from 28 November to 20 December 2008, 5/46 Faimall, Otara Town Centre.

Bo Graham, Metz Eno Tito, Mathew Laban, Priscilla Tata, wood carvings made under the guidance of John Ioane at James Cook High School, 2008. MDF, shellac. Courtesy of the artists and Fresh Gallery Otara. Photo by Ema Tavola.

The end of another year is being marked by an exhibition at the Fresh Gallery Otara which brings together the best work of Auckland based Pacific artists in their early careers. Among these artists are Steven Ball, Mark Dewes, Leah Espie, Antonio Filipo, Penitoa Finau, Sean Kerrigan, Terry Koloamatangi Klavenes, Ofa Mafi, Hili Mokalei, Samiu Napa’a, Cerisse Palalagi, Genevieve Pini, Raymond Sagapolutele and students from James Cook High School. Commenting on the exhibition, curator Ema Tavola explained that the exhibition is intended to speak to the communities of South Auckland and represents various artists’ visions of the social, political, physical and vernacular space that form the elements of a South Auckland identity. Fresh Gallery Otara is two and a half years old. It provides an important avenue for community audiences to access and engage with Pacific artists and their art. The exhibition runs from 28 November to 20 December 2008 at the Fresh Gallery Otara, 5/46 Fairmall, Otara Town Centre.

Mark Dewes, Climbing to Find II 2008, oil and acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist and Fresh Gallery Otara. Photo by Ema Tavola.

David Teata’s “embossed woodblock prints” are destined to be the toast of the Queenstown arts scene during the month of December. The Mangaia-born artist is currently exhibiting his work alongside Sam Foley and Fleur Yorston at Queenstown’s Toi O Tahuna Fine Art Gallery. The exhibition will run from 4 – 20 December, 2008. David’s prints are a fusion of traditional Cook Islands motifs with contemporary elements, and explores the idea that identity is shaped in part by genealogical inheritance. He does this by layering motifs and patterns in textured sediments. The many layers express the complex identities within Aotearoa/New Zealand’s diverse multicultural society. In his current series, David explores the role of the Pi’a Atua within his own genealogy, a term referring to the vision, wisdom and guidance of those holding the office of priest and prophet in Cook Islands culture. David Teata has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Otago School of Art.

Rising Pasifika star, Edith Amituanai, was recently one of four finalists in New Zealand’s richest and most prestigious contemporary arts award: The Walters Prize 2008. The nomination was for Déjeuner (2007), an exhibition of photography based on her visit to France and Italy where she photographed Samoan rugby players in their homes. The exhibition represents her interest in what she calls the “third wave” of migration by Samoans who go out into the world to seek new opportunities – like their parents did when they migrated to New Zealand. Speaking about the exhibition when it was first launched, Edith said: “The places were smaller especially in Italy and exactly like mine; they had recreated the home away from home. I was quite upset with that – I thought their homes would look more French or Italian!” Amituanai is a graduate of Unitec (Bachelor of Design, major in Photography) in Auckland. For the past year, she has been the inaugural recipient of the Marti Friedlander Photography Award. Her work is held at Te Papa and Auckland Art Gallery collections. The Walters Prize 2008 was eventually awarded to Peter Robinson of the Elam School of Fine Arts.