On the cusp of a new decade, a group of senior-level art students demonstrate what it means to create art in an environment no longer bound by rigid geographical notions of place. A large-scale multimedia exhibition opening at St Paul Street Gallery in on 9 September and running until the 24th, Make/Shift will present the viewer with the exciting array of art that is being produced by Auckland’s Pacific innovators throughout the city’s five tertiary institutions. Curator Nina Tonga says that owing to globalisation, the Pacific identity has become increasingly interconnected across traditional geographical boundaries, and these artists’ work provides an insight into art-making practices in a ‘post-colonial, post-migration, post-facebook world’. The line-up features Luke Willis Thompson, Mele ’Uhamaka, Ane Tonga, Tony Tia, Caroline Cotter, Victoria Patea, Vaimoana Eves, Selina Woulfe, Chloe Marsters and Nastashia Simeona. Make/shift is organised by the Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust and opens at 5.30pm on 9 September with a special guest performance by Black Grace. Artists and curator will walk and talk about their work at 2pm on 18 September.
Celebrated Samoan actor Nathaniel Lees is looking for three or four major characters to take over to Samoa for a film written and will be directed by Tauti Tusi Tamasese. Lees is associate producer for the film and says the dialogue of the film will all be in Samoan, with subtitles, and shot entirely in Samoa between October and December this year. The characters are:
- Va’aiga: Mid – late 30’s Samoan woman. Slim, she is very asthmatic and the loss of weight is an indication of how ill she is – her illness contributes to her death in the film.
- Poto: 40 – 50 years old Samoan man . Large build. He is Va’aiga’s brother and the talking chief of the village
- Maleka: Samoan woman aged in her late 20s – early 30s. Build is open but she has had 2 children and she can be intimidating both physically and as a character.
All New Zealand based actors must obviously be fluent in Samoan. The remainder of the cast will be found in Samoa. Interested individuals should contact Nathaniel Lees at nathaniel.lees@gmail.com within the next week (by Wednesday 8 September 2010) and if possible, provide a photo of themselves.
Much-lauded Pacific writer and poet Albert Wendt will read from his award-winning novel in verse, The Adventures of Vela, at the Going West Books & Writers festival at Waitakere City’s Titirangi War Memorial Hall on Sunday 12 September 2010 (10.30-11.15 am). The novel chronicles Samoa’s immortal song maker Vela and other divine figures, and was awarded the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for the South East Asia and the Pacific earlier this year. The reading will include a conversation with Nga Puhi poet and librarian, Robert Sullivan, in which Albert will reflect on his latest book – and a lifetime of telling and tales.
Wellington based multi-media visual artist Sheyne Tuffery, best known for the dynamic style of his prints and woodcuts, is exhibiting Tectonic Plates at Wellington’s Solander Gallery (218 Willis Street). The exhibition is a reflection on New Zealand’s geological history as a singular landmass and natural sanctuary for a vast array of bird species including those that are now extinct, like the giant penguin. Inspired by research into his Samoan heritage and a fascination with New Zealand’s geological history, Sheyne uses his work to create and represent his own cultural context and sense of belonging. The exhibition runs from 8 September to 2 October 2010. Tectonic Plates comes hot on the heels of Sheyne’s other current exhibition, Wahine Atua And The Sonar Interference which runs until 12 September 2010 at Lower Hutt’s Mount Marua Gallery. (Image adapted from the Solander Gallery website)
Niu Pasifik is an exhibition of contemporary art from New Zealand and the Pacific Rim from the personal collection of curator and educator Giles Peterson. It features multi-media work including graph art, painting, drawing, animation, hip hop music video, sculpture, photography, installation, embroidery textile and street fashion. The exhibition is in its final days and closes this Sunday, 5 September, 2010 at the Mount Marua Gallery in Upper Hutt, Wellington. (Image adapted from the Expressions Arts and Entertainment Centre website)
Manukau’s much-anticipated new arts facility, Mangere Arts Centre – Ngā Tohu o Uenuku, will officially open on Friday 3 September 2010. The opening will be followed by a full weekend of celebrations, with more than 40 performances featuring over 300 performers. The centre’s theatre and courtyard will be packed with activity including dance, music, comedy and poetry by acts including Kila Kokonut Krew, Tony T Band, Grace Ikenasio, Moana Ete, MBrace Pacific Dance, Anonymouz, Manukau City Concert Band and many more. The inaugural exhibition in the gallery Manu Toi: Artists and Messengers (curated by Nigel Borell) will also be open for viewing. The exhibition features an impressive line-up artists with a connection to the Mangere area, working in a range of disciplines including photography, installation art, moving image and more. For a full schedule of the opening weekend, go to www.manukau.govt.nz/mangereartscentre.
Opening celebration weekend:
When: Saturday 4 September, 10 am – 11 pm
Sunday 5 September, 12 pm – 4 pm
Where: Mangere Arts Centre – Nga Tohu o Uenuku, Corner Bader Drive and Orly Avenue
Mangere
Cost: Free
The Paperskin: the art of tapa cloth exhibition at Te Papa is an invitation to celebrate the breathtaking visual sophistication and richness of Pacific tapa. From dramatic and ornate four-metre-high ceremonial masks used in Papua New Guinea, to an impressive 22.7-metre ngatu from Tonga, Paperskin: the art of tapa cloth brings together a stunning selection of over 40 tapa works from around the Pacific. This exhibition also offers a rare and unique opportunity for Te Papa to display some of its largest tapa pieces from its own extensive tapa collection. The exhibition also displays Ngatu pepa, a Tongan ‘barkcloth’ made with Vilene (synthetic fabric) made by ‘Ilo Me’a Fo’ou (New Creations), a Tongan women’s group from Upper Hutt in 1996. This remarkable Tongan ngatu highlights recent local innovations in this ancient art form. Paperskin: the art of tapa cloth is a collaboration between Te Papa, the Queensland Art Gallery and the Queensland Museum. It runs at Te Papa’s Visa Platinum Gallery (Level 4) until 12 September 2010. (Image: Kavat mask, 1971, Kairak Baining people, East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea. Purchased 2009, Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Grant. Collection Queensland Art Gallery)
The spirited work of three Pacific female artists is to be exhibited for a month at Auckland’s Okaioceanikart Gallery and then at the Calder and Lawson Gallery in Hamilton. The Flora Koloa Kapkap exhibition will feature Dagmar Dyck (Tonga) Ellie Fa’amauri (Solomon Islands) and Sylvia Marsters (Cook Islands). The Auckland exhibition will be opened on Wednesday 25 August 2010by Professor Jonathon Mane–Wheoki from the Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland. It will run at Okaioceanikart’s Reef Gallery (69 Beach Rd) until 24 Sept 2010 and includes an artists’ floor talk at 12 noon on Saturday 5 September. The exhibition then moves to Hamilton where it will be opened on Wednesday 29 September by Dr Ngahuia Te Awekotuku from the University of Waikato. The Hamilton exhibition runs until 16 October 2010. The artists will be in Hamilton to speak about their work at 7pm on Saturday 9 October at the University of Waikato’s Calder and Lawson Gallery. For more information call Ph +64 (9) 379 9051 or 027 285 4350 and visit the Okaioceanikart website. (Image of Ellie Fa’amauri’s Intertwine, 2010, acrylic on canvas; adapted from the Flora Koloa Kapkap poster.)
Le Tauvaga (The Competition) by Louise Tu’u is a warm and funny play written for Pacific Island teenagers who call New Zealand home. Shunning traditional theatre, the play has already been performed in three Auckland community centres. Community plays a large part in all of Louise Tu’u’s work. She was the first New Zealand or Pacific Island playwright to be awarded the Royal Court International Theatre Residency in London and since her return has written and directed a number of short films and presented her most recent play Providence exclusively for the homeless community in central Auckland. Le Tauvaga is part of Playmarket’s Metro Theatre playreading series and will be performed at 7 pm on Thursday 19th August, 2010 at the Metro Theatre, 362 Massey Rd, Mangere East, Auckland. Koha Entry.
John Pule’s Hauaga (Arrivals) exhibition at Wellington’s City Gallery has been described by critics as a “landmark survey of work by a contemporary Pacific artist”. The exhibition shows Pule’s work stretching across art forms and cultures, drawing from an endlessly rich range of historical and present day sources from the Pacific, as well as Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond. Hauaga features 23 of John Pule’s large canvases and around 40 of his works on paper. It surveys his career since 1991—the year he travelled back to his birthplace, Niue, and reconnected with the traditional Niuean art of hiapo. John Pule’s art plays a pivotal role in the presentation of Pacific cultures globally and has been exhibited in Europe, America, Asia and Australia. The exhibition ends on 12 September 2010 at the West & East Galleries. (Image of “Another Green World” by John Pule, adapted from the City Gallery website.)
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