Moana Waiwai Moana Pāti by Tautai Pacific Arts Trust

12 June - 25 Sept 2021

Contents Curator Statement Nigel Borell

Artist Statements Salvador Brown DigiTā VāSā Melissa Gilbert Atua Otua Kalou Lyncia Müller Promise Corners Tuāfale Tanoa'i Chasing Chaka Ashleigh Taupaki Paradise Jasmine Tuiā Folau Pea Christopher Ulutupu Saltbaths and Horse Tyla Vaeau Tatau Jaimie (James) Waititi ReMoanafication: Time is a space

Gallery Map 1

Nigel Borell Curator

Nigel Borell is of Pirirakau, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi and Te Whakatōhea tribal descent. He is a curator, writer, educator and artist specialising in Māori art in both customary and contemporary fields of research. Recent curatorial projects include co-curating with Zara Stanhope Moa Hunter Fashions by Areta Wilkinson, for the 9th Asia Pacific Triennial, QAGOMA, Brisbane (2018); touring The Māori Portraits: Gottfried Lindauer’s New Zealand to deYoung Fine Arts Museum, San Francisco (2017); and the large survey exhibition Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki (2021), where he was the Curator Māori art from 2015-2020.

Moana Waiwai, Moana Pāti can be poetically translated as From Open Seas to Shallow Waters. It is a phrase that alludes to all that is experienced – both difficult and hopeful – when navigating challenging conditions. In what has been an exceptional year for humanity across the globe, it feels a fitting metaphor to consider the work of artists exhibiting and participating in the Fale-ship programme in 2021. This project is an ongoing Tautai initiative to support Moana artists to make, create and connect in the time of the pandemic. In-sodoing it allows for that most vital of functions: supporting our artist’s and their artmaking to be present and to have voice. And just like the unpredictable tides of this pandemic, it has also brought about new opportunities to create and contemplate. These artists describe the way in which they experienced the ‘lockdowns’ of 2020-2021, where working from home in sustained isolation became the new normal for us all. Continuing their art practice from the confides of home has also provided time to reflect and think-through notions of whakawhānaungatanga (the making of familial connections) and in many cases they have creatively thrived under the circumstances. Adversity and innovation seem to have gone hand-in-hand in how many have experienced this incubation. Collectively these artists present ideas that express aspirations, reflections and experiences that mark this moment in time. From moving image to poetic prose, from sonic landscapes to Moana manifestos – the presentations here remind us of the diverse and multifaceted ways in which Moana creatives express their relationship to place and people. These changing tides, as rocky as they may have been, also bring with them opportunity for new journeys and experiences. The work of the artists in Moana Waiwai, Moana Pāti are testament to the power of that renewal. Moana ora! Nigel Borell 3

Salvador Brown DigiTā VāSā

Born in Aotearoa and of Samoan and European descent, Salvador Brown is a multidisciplinary artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Through his upbringing and his exposure to artmaking in all its forms, Salvador has a broad experience and knowledge of many art traditions, which include taonga pūoro, photography and videography, and most recently, sound work. His formative experiences have also been shaped via his participation with various movements including the Pacific Sisters and SaVĀge K’lub. Career highlights include activations with the SaVĀge K’lub in London and as part of the 8th Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, QAGOMA, Brisbane (2015); workshop leader at Volkenkunde Museum Netherlands Maori Week with his London whanau Te Kohanga Reo o Rānana (2018); and Acti.VA.tor for In*ter*is*land Collective for the Oceania exhibition at the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris (2019).

Photo: Kerry Brown

During his 2020 Tautai Fale-ship, Salvador created a new sound and video work, DigiTā VāSā, which looks at Indigenous Samoan concepts of vāsā (ocean), vā (space between two entities) tā (non-linear concept of time) and how this relates to the digital aspects of our life. For Moana Waiwai, Moana Pāti, he presents a new immersive sound work that expands on his Fale-ship.

Melissa Gilbert Atua Otua Kalou

Melissa Gilbert is a multi-faceted storyteller who focuses on the constant talanoa of identity, connection and healing. Her work is heavily influenced by her ancestry based in Tonga, Samoa and Fiji. Her broad practice ranges from painting and installation to moving image and live activation – her choice of medium based on the best mode of delivery in service of the work’s message.

Melissa Gilbert, Atua Otua Kalou, 2020, (video still).

Melissa produced a new moving image work titled Atua Otua Kalou as part of her 2020 Tautai Fale-ship residency. The work responds to her initiation into live actiVĀtion, Claim Sanctuary, which she performed at Tautai as part of Auckland Art Week 2019. She spent a vigorous year of talanoa afterward to process the experience. As part of this approach, she explored ideas relating to shamanism and ritual from around the world, only to come to the conclusion that she needed to look towards home and to the Tā-Vā time-space theory. Atua Otua Kalou is the rendering of a conversation with ancestors within the realm of Tā-Vā.

Lyncia Müller Promise Corners

Lyncia Müller is a Tongan (Nuku’alofa, Fatai, Lakepa) contemporary artist who is passionate about dance, theatre and exploring her cultural roots. She is a graduate from the Unitec Institute of Technology in Contemporary Dance and the Pacific Institute of Performing Arts. Lyncia has created dance and theatre works that have been performed at Basement Theatre, Pacific Dance Festival and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. Lyncia has also worked with various artists and companies including Lisa Reihana, Auckland Theatre Company, Black Grace, Tupua Tigafua, Fasitua Amosa and LADI6. Through her training, Lyncia has worked with a diverse range of choreographic methods, tools and performance mechanisms that inform her ideas and concepts as a dancer and choreographer. With a strong background in urban, Pacific and contemporary dance, Lyncia makes a unique contribution to this evolving arts industry.

Photo: Mataara Stokes

For her 2020 Tautai Fale-ship Lyncia explored the restrictions of working from home and created a new choreographic piece titled Promise Corners that utilised the domestic environment and reimagined it in dynamic ways.

Tuāfale Tanoa’i Chasing Chaka

Tuāfale Tanoa’i AKA Linda T. is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau and is of Samoan descent (Lufilufi, Sasa’ai, Leauva’a). Using video, photography and DJ-ing, Tuāfale’s practice aims to document and share community stories. Her kaupapa has been described as one that is based on koha – often made with, and gifted back to, the communities she is engaged with. Tuāfale is widely recognised for her generous contributions to various community groups in Aotearoa through her rigorous and insightful work as a documenter since the early 1980s. In addition to her solo practice Tuāfale is a member of art collective D.A.N.C.E. art club.

Packing for Chasing Chaka. Photo: Tuāfale Tanoa’i

Since 2018, Tuāfale has been engaged in an ongoing series of international adventures and residencies that form the basis of a long-term research interest. Her research looks at art, music and queer communities in response to their cultural and geographical environments. This body of work begins in the USA with Chasing Chaka, a three-week tour following influential women, people of colour and queer musicians across America. For her 2020 Tautai Fale-ship residency, Tuāfale produced a rough cut for a forthcoming video project documenting the Chasing Chaka trip. As part of Moana Waiwai, Moana Pāti, Tuāfale will activate the exhibition space with spontaneous live DJ-sets, which is an integral part of her research and practice.

Ashleigh Taupaki Paradise

Ashleigh Taupaki is a multi-disciplinary artist who explores the connections between land, body and identity through indigenous Pacific and Māori concepts of space and place. Working primarily with hard materials, but also in photography, illustration and writing, Ashleigh creates work that manifests ideas of kaitiakitanga, tūrangawaewae and collaboration with natural resources. Her work is heavily informed by indigenous politics and writings, as well as mythological stories and histories connected to place.

Ashleigh Taupaki, Laumile, 2020, pen drawing.

Ashleigh is of Māori (Ngāti Hako) and Samoan (Matautu Lefaga, Vailoa) descent. She lives and works in Tāmaki Makaurau. In 2020, she was awarded a Ngā Manu Pīrere Award from Creative New Zealand for her achievements as an emerging Māori artist. She has recently completed an MFA at Elam School of Fine Arts, The University of Auckland. Developed during her 2020 Tautai Fale-ship, Ashleigh’s botanical illustrations in Paradise, located on the Moana Wall on East Street, are representative of a process to recapture stories and talanoa that her grandmother shared with her during the Covid-19 lockdown. Ashleigh’s grandmother described Samoan plants, which Ashleigh would attempt to draw without any visual reference. These illustrations emphasise the importance of intergenerational connections and oral traditions ingrained in Samoan culture.

Jasmine Tuiā Folau Pea

Jasmine Tuiā is a multidisciplinary practitioner who examines concepts of the Pacific body and indigenous Samoan narratives through mediums of photography, moving image and tapa (siapo) making. She is of Samoan descent (Matautu Lefaga, Falefa, Anoama’a and Malifa, Apia).

Jasmine Tuiā, Aunty Shirley’s laufala, 2020/2021, embroidery thread, eco- dye, siapo.

Jasmine’s practice is influenced by histories, conversations, and land cases from her village of Matautu Lefaga in Samoa. She explores the re-representation and reclamation of Pacific identity, as well as reinforcing the importance of indigenous Moana voices. Jasmine completed a BFA at Elam School of Fine Arts in 2019 and will be graduating with her MFA in September 2021. Working in the family home for her 2020 Tautai Fale-ship, Jasmine reflected on making siapo and its related knowledge, recalling the importance of textile practices through family oral histories and stories. She experimented with eco-dying and stitching, producing Folau Pea, a series of siapo works titled that feature subjects from her memories of home, oral stories and family talanoa. This is accompanied by a piece of writing inspired by Matautu Lefaga titled Return to Paradise.

Christopher Ulutupu, Saltbaths, 2021, (video still), from the series New Kid in Town, Commissioned by Cement Fondu Gallery, Sydney, Australia and funded by Creative New Zealand.

Christopher Ulutupu Saltbaths and Horse

Christopher Ulutupu is a video artist of Samoan (Falelatai, Siumu, Safotu), Niuean and German descent currently residing in Pōneke. He has an MFA from Massey University, Wellington and a Bachelor of Performance Design (Hons) from Massey University and Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School. Christopher’s art practice is autobiographical by nature and often reflects on personal relationships, experiences and ideas related to identity and belonging. He regularly collaborates with family, friends and untrained actors. His video and performance work explores landscape, the constructions of colonial narratives and experiences of Pacific diaspora. Through his work, Christopher seeks to re-contextualise stereotypical representations of Pacific people and offer new ways of exploring the effects of colonisation. During his 2020 Tautai Fale-ship, Christopher started to draw out concepts for a new series, New Kid in Town. He collaborated with his two sisters, Ashley Ulutupu and Fame Ulutupu, to create a series of one-minute Tiktok-style clips throughout their hometown Whakatū (Nelson). For Moana Waiwai, Moana Pāti, Christopher presents two works from the New Kid in Town series: Saltbaths (2021) and Horse (2021).

Tyla Vaeau Tatau by Tyla Vaeau on her brother Hiram Fa'alia Vaeau, Vaeau Family Studio, Grey Lynn, Tamaki Makaurau, 2020. Photo: Grantis Apiata

Tatau

Tyla Vaeau is a tatau practitioner, artist and researcher of Samoan (Salea'aumua and Safune) and Palagi descent, based in Tāmaki Makaurau. She has a BFA from Elam School of Fine Arts and an MA in Art History from the University of Auckland, which focuses on Samoan tatau and its development within the Samoan diaspora. In 2009, Tyla began tattooing with machine with guidance from prolific tattoo artist Roger Ingerton of ‘Roger’s Tatoo Art’, Pōneke. She has gone on to participate in prominent cultural tattoo festivals locally and internationally, including the Traditional Tattoo and World Culture Festival, Mallorca, 2017 and Tatau I Mo'orea Festival, Tahiti, 2018. Over the years Tyla has developed a strong knowledge and practice of Samoan and Pasifika tatau that is rooted in the customary practices of the past. She is an advocate who looks to contribute to the cultural continuum of tatau and is in the process of learning customary Samoan tatau under the teachings of renowned tufuga tatatau Su’a Sulu’ape Alaiva'a Petelo, Samoa. For her 2020 Tautai Fale-ship, Tyla collaborated with photographer Grantis Apiata to document tatau sessions using both the ‘au and tattoo machine. For Moana Waiwai, Moana Pāti, Tyla will be working periodically within the gallery space.

Jaimie (James) Waititi

ReMoanafication: Time is a space

Jaimie (James) Waititi (Te Whānau a Apanui, Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi) is a multidisciplinary, gender fluid artist who works within performance, regalia, lens-based media, image making, sound and installation. Their work explores the environment, racial and cultural politics and the gender and queer spectrum. They are obsessed with tipuna matāuranga (ancient Māori stories) and exploring these narratives through modern methods of storytelling. Jaimie is a member of SaVĀge K’Lub, issheboys, Th3 Order and the Arts Laureate winning interdisciplinary collective FAFSWAG.

Jaimie Waititi, ReMoanafication: Time is a space, 2021, (detail), digital image.

During their 2020 Tautai Fale-ship, Jaimie considered how Moana artists are positioned around decolonisation – and how they can reposition themselves to centre tīpuna, rather than colonisation. This repositioning, referred to as ReMoanification (or ReMāorification), is a form of reclaiming sovereignty and has become a central part of Jaimie’s practice. For Moana Waiwai, Moana Pāti, Jaimie presents a digital manifesto, ReMoanafication: Time is a space, which comprises text and imagery and is displayed along Tautai’s public Moana Wall on East Street as a call to action.

Tautai Gallery Map

Salvador Brown

Christopher Ulutupu

Tuāfale Tanoa'i AKA Linda T.

Lyncia Müller

Melissa Gilbert

Tyla Vaeau

Gallery entra

K a ran g a h a p e R o a d

Tautai Gallery

Galato s Stre et

Ashleigh Taupaki MOANA WALL

Jasmine Tuiā

E ast Stre et E ast Stre et

ance

Moana Wall

Jaimie Waititi

Tautai and Link Alliance present the - MOANA WALL An outdoor exhibition on East Street from 2020-2023. The Moana Wall aims to highlight a significant era of Karangahape Road's history and its lasting connection to the Moana communities today.

Proudly supported by

Published in 2021 by Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust Level 1, 300 Karangahape Road, Newton, Auckland 1010 Aotearoa, New Zealand Tautai.org