Waitakere City poets Selina Tusitala Marsh, Serie Barford and Doug Poole speak to the art of “Spirit of the People” on Wednesday 16 September 2009 at the Okaioceanikart Gallery. “Spirit of the People” is significant because it is the first exhibition of Contemporary Melanesian art with a regional wide focus to show in Auckland. Inspired by a visit to writers in the Solomon Islands and then blown away by the colourful bold Papua New Guinea paintings at Okaioceankart, Selina Tusitala Marsh wanted to write poetry to honour her fellow Melanesian artists. Together with Serie Barford and Doug Poole, all three of Samoan heritage, the reading will create a ‘spacific’ oceanic dimension to the show. “Spirit of the People” features contemporary art from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, as well as work by artists from the Melanesian diasporic Pacific communities in Australia and New Zealand. The Artspeak evening starts at 7pm at the Corban Estate Arts Centre, Mt Lebanon Drive, Henderson. The “Spirit of the People” exhibition continues at the same venue until 27th September 2009.
(Image courtesy of Okaioceanikart Gallery)
