Vunilagi Vou is a shapeshifting studio and consultancy dedicated to Pacific art, artists and audiences.
In 2026, Vunilagi Vou is operating out of a small studio space in Paekākāriki on the Kāpiti Coast of Aotearoa New Zealand. It has been a rocky road… how did we get here?
Originally established as an independent gallery in Ōtāhuhu, South Auckland, Vunilagi Vou hosted a monthly programme of exhibitions profiling contemporary Moana Pacific art, artists and ideas. The gallery was a site for sales, experimentation, re-thinking and embedding Moana Pacific art in Moana Pacific space.
In 2020, impacted by the global Covid-19 pandemic, Vunilagi Vou relocated to a refurbished site in suburban Papatoetoe, South Auckland. The gallery operated on an appointment-only basis and delivered a programme of bimonthly exhibitions, occasional workshops and talanoa events.
In 2021, Vunilagi Vou temporarily shifted operations to The Alexander Cafe in Ōtara offering space to deliver publicly accessible exhibitions and events and partner with Celebrate Aotearoa to create a hub for local entrepreneurial hustle.
Feeling the pressure of the pandemic climate, in late 2021, Vunilagi Vou withdrew from producing a public exhibitions and events programme and shifted to creative projects and consultancy services in the areas of arts management, funding and proposal writing and social inclusion strategy. Read more here.
In 2022, Vunilagi Vou returned to public-facing operations in a fourth site in the form of VVxET in East Tāmaki, South Auckland. Read more here.
VVxET became stable ground for Vunilagi Vou to shapeshift for the first time out of choice and not necessity. After producing the Season of Solos in 2023, Vunilagi Vou as a gallery closed its doors.
In 2024, Vunilagi Vou started operating as a creative studio, showroom and consultancy, but opportunity called yet again and in 2026, Vunilagi Vou shapeshifted again.