Creative New Zealand is now accepting applications for the first round of 2011 grants. Its contestable funding guide on how to apply is now available online from the Creative New Zealand website. Pacific language translations of the funding guide information are available. Creative New Zealand will be funding the following Pacific priorities:
- Projects that preserve, develop and transmit, Pasifika heritage art forms.
- Projects that develop New Zealand Pasifika artists and contemporary arts practices.
Applications to the Quick Response Grants close this Friday 4th February (6 week decision for projects up to $7,500)
Applications to the Arts Grants also close on Friday 4th March (12 week decision for projects up to $65,000).
For further details visit www.creativenz.govt.nz or contact; Makerita Urale, Senior Programmes Adviser, Pacific Arts: makerita.urale@creativenz.govt.nz, Ph (04) 473 0880.
Creative New Zealand and the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies are celebrating the 15 anniversary of the Pacific Artist residency at the University of Canterbury. Applications for the residency award are now invited from established traditional or contemporary Pacific Artists in the fields of textiles, ceramics, painting, sculpture and the literary and performing arts. The residency was established in 1996 and aims to provide artists with an opportunity to develop new directions in their artistic practice. It also aims to support and promote the development of indigenous Pacific art in New Zealand. To provide the recipient with the time, space and facilities to develop their artistic practice in an academic environment, the award is tenable for a period of three months. The award is worth $15,000. The Artist will be required to reside in Christchurch for the duration of the scholarship and will be expected to contribute to the Macmillan Brown Seminar series and other activities. Past recipients of the residency include Tusiata Avia (2005), Sheyne Tuffery (2006), Johnny Penisula (2007), John Ioane (2008) and Kulimoe’anga (Stone) Maka (2009). This year’s recipient was Christchurch-based actress, musician, song-writer, playwright and manager of Pacific Underground, Tanya Muagututi’a. Applications close on 28 January 2011. For more information, contact Moana Matthes at moana.matthes@canterbury.ac.nz, ph (64-3) 36402957 or visit: http://www.pacs.canterbury.ac.nz/for/artists.shtml. (9 Heavens, 2008, John Ioane. Image courtesy of Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies)
Dunedin weaver Misa Emma Kesha has won the Senior Pacific Artist’s award ($10,000) at the Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifika Awards 2010. Accepting the award, Mrs Kesha said the award was a “gift” for her whole community. Mrs Kesha was influenced by her mother and grandmother and said weaving was an everyday activity when she was growing up in Samoa. This changed when she came to New Zealand and her involvement in the Pacific community arose out of a desire to keep the tradition and culture alive. She established the Multicultural Weavers Association in Dunedin in 1983 and tutored in places such as Samoa, Tonga, New Caledonia and Australia. In 1998, she became the first woman in her family to be given the matai title Misa, in recognition of her contribution to the family and community in Samoa. Describing weaving as her passion, Mrs Kesha’s aim as an artist is to “promote and preserve the art of weaving” through the sharing of knowledge, especially with the younger generation, lest it be lost in modern society. The Arts Pasifika Awards were set up in 1996 to encourage and celebrate excellence in Pacific arts in New Zealand. To read a full report of this story read the article in the Otago Daily Times. (Image of Misa Emma Kesha (left) and Pele Walker, adapted from the Otago Daily Times)
The contribution of Pacific artists was celebrated last Monday at the Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifika Awards 2010 in Wellington. Five awards were given in recognition, as Pacific Arts Committee chair Pele Walker explained, of “those artists working to preserve the traditions of our homelands … to those … who are forging new paths with new technologies”. The five awards and their recipients were Emerging Pacific Artist’s award ($4000): Tongan carver Visesio Siasau; the Iosefa Enari memorial award ($4000): Samoan tenor Pene Junior Pati; the Pacific heritage arts award ($5000): O Mata! Tokelauan Dance Group. The Contemporary Pacific artist’s award ($5000) was presented to Michael Tuffery, in recognition of his career and contribution in bringing a New Zealand-born Pacific experience to contemporary New Zealand. The Senior Pacific Artist’s award ($10,000) was won by Samoan weaver Misa Emma Kesha. Walker said the awards were a time to reflect on the collective cultural wealth of Pacific artists living in New Zealand. The awards, established in 1996 by Creative New Zealand, are intended to encourage and celebrate excellence in Pacific arts and are the only national awards that recognise Pasifika artists across a range of art forms. To read more about this story, see the article in Spasifik Magazine. (Image of Michel Tuffery and Visesio Siasau (left) adapted from the Creative New Zealand website)
A paid internship at world-renowned WETA Workshops, tuition fees at Auckland University or an overseas trip are still up for grabs for three outstanding young Pacific people – but they need to act fast as time to apply is nearly up. The offers are open to winners of the inaugural Prime Minister’s Pacific Youth Awards, announced last month and open for nominations until 11 October. The awards are being administered by the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, although selection is by an independent panel. “We know that there are many fabulous young leaders out there in our Pacific communities – we would really like to see as many of them as possible take advantage of this opportunity,” Ministry chief executive Dr Colin Tukuitonga says. The awards are in three categories: Creativity, sponsored by WETA Workshops, Inspiration, sponsored by globally successful software company COGITA and Leadership, sponsored by top tertiary institution the University of Auckland. Nominees need to be 17-24, of Pacific descent with New Zealand residency, and able to demonstrate community involvement, integrity, and success in one of the three award categories. The closing date for nominations is 11 October, and winners will be announced 19 November. All information, including entry forms and details of the awards, can be found at www.pacificyouthawards.org.nz.
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)
Pacific artists and critics from around the world are arriving in Rarotonga for the 10th Pacific Arts Association (PAA) International Symposium early next week. The theme for the symposium is “Museums, New Global Communities, and Future Trends”. The purpose of the PAA is to connect individuals and institutions around the world and encourage greater cooperation among those involved with the creation, study and exhibition of Pacific Art. The symposium will take place from 9 – 11 August 2010, at the Crown Beach Resort in Ratotonga.
Creative New Zealand’s third review of its Recurrently Funded Organisations (RFOs) is recommending that two feasibility studies be undertaken in the next year. The first is to look into a management company for dance and theatre companies, including Maori and Pasifika dance and theatre, to provide shared, cost-effective management and audience development services for smaller independent companies. The second study will look at a Pasifika arts development organisation to coordinate and provide capability building for Pasifika artists across a range of arts practice and to develop new audiences for Pasifika arts and artists. The review recommends that work on the feasibility of these initiatives be carried out in 2010–11 so that options can be considered by 2012, when the new multi-year investment programmes have been implemented.
Creative New Zealand in association with Pasifika Festival presents ARTSpeak Pasifika – a two-day national fono for the Pacific arts industry. Open to Pasifika artists working in visual arts, performing arts, film and television, music, literature, music and heritage arts, the fono is an opportunity to share ideas and participate in panel discussions designed to provide inspiration and practical advice on making a successful career in the arts. Creative New Zealand’s Anton Carter says “it’s the first time in over 10 years a multi art form fono like this has been organized”. The fono takes place on Friday 25th June and Saturday 26th June 2010 at the Reception Lounge (Level 2) of the Auckland Town Hall, Queen Street, Auckland. Numbers are limited to 150 people and the cost is a flat rate of $30 which includes refreshments on both days. A limited number of travel subsidies are available to assist participants from outside the Auckland region to attend. For more details and registration, see http://www.creativenz.govt.nz/artspeak.
Tino Rangatira Tanga is a powerful exhibition by emerging Maori and Pacific artist Leilani Kake (Tainui, Ngāpuhi, Cook Island, American). Filmed entirely on hand held camera Tino Rangatira Tanga follows Kake as she documents her fathers tā moko (Māori facial tattooing) and his subsequent illness and passing. The footage, shot in first person perspective with Kake behind the lens, provides the audience with an opportunity to experience these sacred moments through her eyes. The exhibition runs at the Deane Gallery, 101 Wakefield Street, Wellington until 13 June 2010. Kake is an Auckland-based video installation artist who utilises narratives taken directly from her personal life to comment on larger issues facing Māori and Pacific Island communities living in Aotearoa New Zealand. She gained a Degree in Visual Arts at the Manukau Institute of Technology in 2002 and returned in 2005 to undertake postgraduate studies in Fine Arts. She regularly exhibits nationally and abroad, and recently presented a paper on Māori and Pacific urban arts in Aotearoa New Zealand to the Los Angeles College Art Association (2009) in San Francisco. In 2005, she was awarded the Salamander Gallery/Creative New Zealand Emerging Pacific Visual Artist Award. Tino Rangatira Tanga was first exhibited at the Fresh Gallery Otara, Auckland, in 2008.
 (Image adapted from Ema Tavola’s Colour Me Fiji blog.)
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