Pacific Artists Feature Prominently at London Exhibition

Artists Shigeyuki Kihara and Rosanna Raymond have received the honour to exhibit their work at the October Gallery in London. The exhibition is titled “ethKnowcentrix – Museums Inside the Artist” and will run from 10 September to 10 October 2009. Kihara is a multimedia and performance artist of Samoan and Japanese descent who uses photography to explore themes of representation, spirituality, performativity, and gender. In 2008, she held a solo exhibition at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and won the distinction of having her work acquired by the museum for its permanent collection. She is the current Artist in Residence at the Campbelltown Arts Centre in Sydney. Raymond is a poet, performer, costume designer, dancer, and jewellery-maker, and curator. She is of Samoan and Pakeha descent and was a founding member of the acclaimed art collective Pacific Sisters. She was co-curator and artistic director of the Pasifika Styles festival in Cambridge (England) between 2006 and 2008. In “ethKnowcentrix”, she continues her exploration of the Pacific dusky maiden motif. Using poetry, performance, costume, body adornment, film and photography, the work produces a resounding celebration of the Pacific female spirit. Exhibiting with Kihara and Raymond are George Nuku, an internationally celebrated Maori sculptor and multimedia artist, and Lisa Reihana a Maori artist who comments on gender politics, cultural agency and museological interventions, through film and multimedia art. An Artists’ Forum, an Artists’ Talk, and a Poroporoaki (farewell) have been scheduled for 12 September 2009, 10 am – 7.30 pm (£15/£10 conc); 15th September 2009, 6.30 pm (free); and 10th October 2009, 3 pm (free) respectively.