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NO.40
Moorabool News The
VOL 17
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Tuesday 10 October, 2023
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Birds of a feather By Lachlan Ellis
Tupe Papali’i is excited but nervous to have the local community check out her New Feathers exhibition. Photo – Lachlan Ellis
A relatively new arrival to Moorabool has merged her attachment to her homeland and culture with the love for her new home, in a new art exhibition. New Zealand-born Tupe Papali’i’s ‘New Feathers’ exhibition will be up in the Lerderderg Library until the end of the month, and features both the iconic tui from New Zealand, and local birds Ms Papali’i has come to love: the galah and the Australian raven. Ms Papali’i said it was an honour to have her artwork up for the public to see, and that the choice of birds as a theme was deeply symbolic. “It was mainly the new wildlife around us that inspired me. We moved from Porirua in New Zealand to Bacchus Marsh in May, and I’ve been quite obsessed with galahs and other local birds since. The exhibition is called New Feathers as it has to do with our transition [to living here], and birds moulting, changing their feathers, and growing. It’s a bit of a metaphor,” she told the Moorabool News. “We kind of consider New Zealand the bird country I suppose, but when we came here we found there are so many birds here too, and they’re so bright and colourful. That was super exciting and I wanted to celebrate that. Also, Maori believe birds are like the voices of gods or they are gods, they’re the first voice of the land, so I wanted to touch on that by using the tui.” Art has been a lifelong passion for Ms Papali’i, and as a mother of three, the exhibition gave her a creative outlet. “Probably since I was young, I always wanted to be able to draw well. I’ve been teaching art for the past 12 years in New Zealand. Over the last few years, having young children I haven’t had a lot of free time to do my own art,” she said. “That was a challenge I set myself when we moved here, for a better work-life balance, and have at least one day where I can do some art. It was actually pretty nerve-wracking to put my art up in the library, I wasn’t sure what people would think, and I’m new to the area… but I was honoured to have the opportunity.” The New Feathers exhibition is up in Lerderderg Library’s Moor Art Space for the entirety of October.