Pacific Starmap

Emerging Papua New Guinean artist, Jeffry Feeger, opens a solo exhibition today (Tuesday 16 March 2010) at the Whitespace Gallery in Auckland (12 Crummer Rd, Ponsonby). Of this exhibition, Feeger says “my recent works are concerned with lives of people around me. For me it is a way of capturing truth in life. I chose to paint realism, although I experiment with texture and light and incorporate themes that are symbolic to current social issues”. Buka is off Bougainville Island where a deadly civil war raged during the 1980s and 1990s. The exhibition runs at Whitespace until Sunday 4 April, 2010.

Current United Nations Development Programme Administrator and former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, is to open “Manuia” in New York. “Manuia” is the first Contemporary Cook Island exhibition curated by Ben Bergman from Beachcomber Contemporary Art Gallery, Rarotonga and will show at The American Indian Community House Gallery, New York, from 15 March to 29 May 2010. The exhibition features photographer and painter Mahiriki Tangaroa, video artist Jerome Sheddon (in collaboration with celebrated carver Mike Tavioni), multi-media artist Kay George and New Zealand/Pacific artists Michel Tuffery and Andy Leleisi’uao.

Congratulations are in order for Papua New Guinea contemporary artist Daniel Waswas. His magnificent work Look Within II has been purchased by Te Papa Tongarewa Museum in Wellington. Look Within II was one of three Waswas works exhibited at the recent “Ancestors of the Realm Exhibition” at the Kaohshiung Museum in Taiwan. Aucklanders can view the other two pieces and have coffee with Daniel this coming Monday 15 March 2010 at 11am at the okaioceanikart@Reef Gallery, 69 Beach Rd, Auckland.

(Look Within II, by Daniel Waswas. Acrylic on canvas, 2000 x 1500mm. The painting was recently purchased by the Te Papa Tongarewa Museum)

The Okalana Niue Arts Group presents a collaboration of Niuean artists exhibiting contemporary and traditional work. The exhibition features the work of Cerisse Palalagi, Isisah Edwards, Amelia Fuemana-Talauta, Chloe Kauhiva, Janet Lilo, Miriam Poitoa-Kauhiva, Maiakitau Talauta and Seneua Pihigia-Fakakoa. The exhibition is showing on Level 4 of the Aotea Centre, The Edge from 8 – 12 March, 2010. Most works are for sale. “Gahua Lima – Creative Hands of Niue” is part of Auckland’s Pasifika Festival 2010.

Members of the public are invited to a Pacific inspired workshop led by artist Ela To’omaga Kaikilekofe. The workshop will be followed by an exhibition floor talk by curator Leanne Joy Lupelele Clayton and artists Lily Aitui Laita and Terry Koloamatangi Klavenes. These activities are part of the ‘circular’ exhibition and will take place at the Artstation Gallery on Saturday, 6 March 2010, at 11 am and 1:00pm respectively. Bookings for the workshop are essential, so email the organisers at tautai@tautai.org to reserve your place today.

(Image from eventfinder.co.nz website)

‘Circular’ is the title of a new exhibition featuring the works of 10 artists who transform traditional and everyday objects into sculptures, installations, photography, prints and paintings. These mixed-media works also look at the traditional hand-made and labour-intensive approaches to object making. The artists include Theo Ah Wong, Faafetai Amituanai, Leanne Joy Lupelele Clayton, Tui Hobson, Terry Koloamatanga Klaveness, Lily Aitua Laita, Lina Marsh, Niki Hastings-McFall, Siliga Setoga and Ane Tonga. The exhibition is supported by Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust and is held in conjunction with Pasifika Festival 2010. It runs from 3rd to 13th March at the Artstation Gallery, 1 Ponsonby Road, Newton, Auckland.

(Image from eventfinder.co.nz website)

“Matua o Faiaogo Muamua: Parents Are Our First Teachers” is an exhibition by Pelenato Liufau that opens today (Thursday 18 February 2010) at Fresh Gallery Otara in South Auckland. Of his work, Pelenato says that it acknowledges “instances when children have been exposed to questionable parental practices and when the impact of prioritising cultural and religious obligations over nurturing leads to neglect and child abuse. Being a father has enabled me, with Island eyes, to witness and become aware of particular situations where the cultural traditions and religion of the local Island community have a stronghold on the individual. Children are the unacknowledged victims of change regardless of ethnicity.” Pelenato Liufau is a recent graduate of Manukau School of Visual Arts. The exhibition runs from 19 February to 13 March 2010. The artist will deliver a talk on Saturday 6 March, from 12 to 1.30 pm.

(Untitled, by Pelenato Liufau, 2009. Silkscreen print on vinyl, 1055×960mm. Image courtesy of Fresh Gallery Otara)

Five ‘island boys’ based in the Pacific and Australia exhibit dramatic canvases, wood block, ink and watercolours and prints at Okaioceanikart’s new Reef Gallery, 69-71 Beach Rd, Auckland City from Monday March 3rd 2010. Abraham Lagi (Fiji), Daniel Waswas (Papua New Guinea), David Teata (Cook Islands), Kopotama Jacobsen (Niue), and Laben Sakale (Papua New Guinea) will exhibit their work in this new space which is larger, brighter and able to present works to a broader audience. Okaioceanikart is an art dealership representing solely contemporary artists of the Pacific and Oceania.

(”Mother Nature 9/22″, Daniel Waswas, 2007. Lino reduction print on paper. Image from Okaioceanikart website)

A new exhibition featuring Fatu Feu’u, Vanya Taule’alo, and Isabelle Staron-Tutugoro explores the connection between artists who operate in different realms of the Pacific. “Between Two Worlds” brings together the work of Fatu Feu’u, the elder statesman of Pacific Island art in New Zealand, and a selection of pieces by Vanya Taule’alo, and Isabelle Staron-Tutugoro both of whom are long-time residents of Samoa and New Caledonia respectively. The exhibition opens at Christchurch’s Salamander Gallery on Monday 15 February (today) and continues until 7 March 2010. The Salamander Gallery specialises in art of the Pacific and represents artists such as Fatu Feu’u, Michel Tuffery, Dagmar Dyck, Nanette Lela’ulu and Sheyne Tuffery.

(”Pale Auro” by Fatu Feu’u, 1989. Lithograph printed in colour from multiple stones; 51 x 70 cm. Image from Print and Printmaking Australia, Asia and Pacific Website)