The 2009 recipient of Creative New Zealand’s the Contemporary Pacific Artists Award is Shigeyuki Kihara. Shigeyuki is a visual and performance artist whose work explores themes of representation, authenticity, consumerism, collective memory, gender roles and spirituality. Shigeyuki was awarded the 2003 Emerging Pacific Artist Award and has held solo exhibitions worldwide at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Shanghai Zendai Museum of Modern Art, China; Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan; Centro Ricerca Arte Attuale, Italy and National Museum of Poznan, Poland. She will exhibit at the 2010 Sydney Festival and Auckland Triennale. Past winners of the Contemporary Pacific Art Award are: Richard Shortland-Cooper (2002) Filipe Tohi (2003), Lemi Ponifasio (MAU Dance) (2004), John Ioane (2005), Sima Urale (2006), Nina Nawalowalo (2007), and Diana Fuemana (2008).
(Image from Pasifika Styles website)
