Category: Artwork for Sale

Artwork for Sale, Community

A winter update; making, community + rangahau

It rained non-stop in Auckland yesterday, but the winter months have felt generally mild, generally manageable. I’ve been walking at Puke Ariki (Point View) Reserve in recent weeks, a 39 hectare pocket of native bush and grasslands in East Auckland, not far from Vunilagi Vou. The paths have been littered with beautiful pink flowers from Puriri trees. This walk has become my favourite way to decompress and clear the mind.

Earlier this month was the launch of Oceans Between Us: Pacific Peoples & Racism in Aotearoa at Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland. The commissioned artwork for the front cover of this book finally left Vunilagi Vou on its one-way journey. Having it at the launch was a special way to see it meet audiences, and especially lovely to have artist peers, Marc Conaco and Leilani Kake come through to celebrate!

It was a privilege to sit on a panel discussion at the book launch with some of the book’s contributors, and especially lovely to see Vunilagi Vou salusalu adorning the authors and speakers. Vinaka vakalevu to Dr Sereana Naepi and team for a very special evening!

At the same time on the other side of the world, critically-acclaimed queer collective FAFSWAG were presenting an impressive body of new work at Manchester International Festival. The approach to embody ceremony as a mode of presenting stories and representations of Indigenous people was gently echoed in the presentation of Vunilagi Vou salusalu to mark the project’s opening. It was such an honour to make a small contribution to FAFSWAG’s impressive and groundbreaking work.

At home in Tāmaki Makaurau, Tongan textile artist and designer Czarina Wilson announced her involvement in next month’s New Zealand Fashion Week, showing with the Kāhui Collective. Czarina’s practice honours her cultural heritage through intentional design and craft processes, using fabric, weaving and cultural insignia as a form of visual storytelling. Part streetwear, part costume and couture, her first New Zealand Fashion Week collection explores legacy through Tongan quilting traditions and bold urban silhouettes.

As in the case with so many creatives trying to realise awesome projects at the moment, Czarina is inviting donations to support her New Zealand Fashion Week collection and campaign. If you’re interested to learn more and make a contribution, read more here.

For creatives on tight budgets, a way to support is through creative skills and services, so it was a lovely to be able to work with my niece Tiana Carling and artist, Pati Solomona Tyrell to make a few beautiful images of Czarina’s work at the FAFSWAG studio this week.

Vunilagi Vou was part of the Filemu Makers Market a few weeks ago too, a sweet initiative of Taualofa Totua and Iosua Ah-Hao, the makers of Filemu Zine. I was super keen to be part of this event because the venue, Ūkaipō Creative Space, is such an inspiring, maternal and fluid space run by mother-daughter duo, Cat Ruka and Lucia Davison. It was lovely to meet the other stallholders and reconnect with old friends, Luisa Lefao-Setoga of the iconic Popohardwear and Vaimaila Urale (of Moana Fresh), who was supporting her two daughters on their own entrepreneurial journey selling hand-made phone charms and phone cases! Such a lovely day!

After a few banner and bunting sales this month, I was inspired to make a few more mini banners now available under ‘Artwork’ in the Vunilagi Vou shop. This one is a textile altar for a matakau, a carved Fijian female ancestor figure featuring tattooed hips, loins and mouth. This particular matakau is from central Viti Levu, and is the “property” of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. As an altar, it’s an offering of reverence for a symbol of Indigenous female worlds; visualising matakau in my practice is a form of spiritual repatriation and remembrance.

This work incorporates silhouettes of the leaves and fruit of the Tavola tree (terminalia catappa), after which my father was named. The African wax print is a textile collected from our family’s time in Belgium. It is used here in the shape of a ‘lapita’ pot.

learn more here

Gratitude for those who have been supporting Vunilagi Vou through sales of the VV:Ono tea towel, hand-made bits and pieces, prints, patches and accessories. It has really helped keep the rent paid and lights on this winter – vinaka vakalevu.

I’m excited to also now be stocking Vunilagi Vou goodies at Moana Fresh in West Auckland! This beautiful boutique is located at 64 Rosebank Road, Avondale, a proudly Indigenous women-owned and operated small business – an excellent spot to shop, support and amplify!

Shifting Vunilagi Vou from an exhibitions gallery to a working creative studio has been a wild ride, fuelled by faith, audacity and the support of folx who subscribe, donate, buy and amplify the work of this small enterprise. It is the most gratifying part of this work to see Vunilagi Vou’s creative output out in the world, in homes and offices, on walls and on bodies, in Aotearoa and beyond. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

August and September is crunch time for my Master of Applied Indigenous Knowledge studies; I’m loving the process so much, but the pressure is ON. I’m trying to balance the need to keep making and driving sales with the importance of this rangahau (research) journey, so wish me luck! I can’t wait to share what I’ve been working on…

vinaka vakalevu

Artwork for Sale

Matariki clear-out // Prices slashed + offers welcome!

In the interest of clearing out the stockroom, offers are welcome on a small range of paintings and prints currently hanging in the Vunilagi Vou stockroom.

Backbone, a 2023 study on loose 14oz canvas is un-stretched + unframed, measuring 1200x1500mm. Read more about it here. Made for my solo exhibition of the same title, more here.

Lanuola Mereia Aniseko (2023) is a mounted and framed acrylic and mixed media painting on un-stretched 14oz canvas measuring 705x895mm. Originally produced for Backbone at Vunilagi Vou (April/May 2023), it was later shown in To Live + Die in South Auckland (2024) at Fresh Gallery Ōtara. This work is open for offers.

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Produced a year after Backbone, this print series was inspired by the first Melanesian Festival held in Aotearoa. An unlimited series, these A3 size prints are made with Epson Ultrachrome K3 archival inks on acid-free 210gsm Epson Enhanced Matte, more here.

The most popular print from this series is Wailoku Matakau, with the central guiding light of a Fijian matakau, a carved female ancestor figure, embedded in my parents’ garden in Suva, Fiji. Learn more about this work here.

Two mounted exhibition prints are also seeking homes, and any offers are welcome on these.

Produced in 2022, these gorgeous block mounted prints are made with Archival inks on Hahnemühle FineArt Metallic 340gsm. They shimmer in the light and are super lightweight measuring 595 x 840mm.

Only shown once in Nigel Borell’s Moonwalkerz 2022 exhibition, these prints are in good condition.

This one-day-painting and mixed media work was made on the day of the Toitū Te Tiriti activation in May 2024. An intuitive and responsive work, part protest banner, part processing, it was a form of creative activism for the introvert. Made with acrylic and glitter paint on calico, canvas tabs, ric-rac trim, pom-pom trim and hi-viz tape, the painting measures 723x600mm and hangs on an EcoPine dowel measuring 850mm in length. The hanging details are 510-520mm. Any and all offers welcome. More info here.

It’s always good to have a clear out to welcome in a new year! Any and all enquiries welcome!

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Artwork for Sale

A symbolic story and a beautiful textile

This lovely new tea towel marks Vunilagi Vou’s 6th anniversary in a symbolic story of totems and transformation, building and breaking, signs, surrender, literature and luck, moonlight and magic. It honours the plants that have survived Vunilagi Vou’s transiency since 2019, the lessons of Covid-19, the gift of a sewing machine, yoga and meditation, and the love of a wild dog. It is a reminder that Vunilagi Vou’s Ōtāhuhu origin story is forever, and wherever Vunilagi Vou goes, it’s Southside til I die!

Buy one today!

It also looks quite lovely in an A2 size frame!

Designed and dyed in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa on 100% cotton, these tea towel textiles measure 50x70cm.

Available at Celebrate Aotearoa, 3/26 Apirana Avenue, Glen Innes, East Auckland and online at VunilagiVou.com/shop

All Vunilagi Vou sales keep the lights on, the rent paid, creative ideas flowing and the dream alive!

vinaka vakalevu

Artwork for Sale, Conferences, Exhibitions

Art without industry; shifting contexts for creative work

The first quarter of 2025 has been busy and inspiring. In January, a commissioned artwork for Auckland University Press was finalised and delivered; it will be the cover of an upcoming book full of inspiring writing by Moana Oceania / Pacific scholars and I can’t wait to see this textile form translate to print. Click here to learn more and pre-order!

The artwork, entitled “Na wasawasa e vamatana, na wasawasa e veisemati – Oceans have eyes, Oceans connect us all” (2025) is a textile assemblage featuring a border of 253 triangles, and measures 1185x1260mm.

In January, I also momentarily transformed Vunilagi Vou – the creative studio – back to Vunilagi Vou, the Gallery, in a strange re-imagined backwards forwards step. Having closed gallery operations in 2023, the site of the gallery had been well and truly transformed to a working studio, but the yellow wall remained.

For Auckland-based Fijian writer-director, Tulia Thompson, Vunilagi Vou’s original site in Ōtāhuhu and its iconic yellow wall played a role in the vision for her first short film entitled Latui. It was such a pleasure to work with Tulia and her producer partner Craig Parkes to weave Vunilagi Vou into the making of this important film, bringing a strong degree of authenticity to this re-imagining of Vunilagi Vou. I loved staging a curated exhibition and the paintings of Mel Aluesi were not only a gorgeous pleasure to encounter and handle, but perfectly aligned with the film’s storyline.

Tulia and Craig bought together an impressive cast and crew including Fijian lead actress Nicole Whippy, art director Tapuaki Helu with assistance from Litia Tuiburelevu, and Vunilagi Vou’s excellent community of supporting cast including Mel Aluesi, Rebecca Ann Hobbs, Tanu Gago, Craig Horne, Barbara Morgan, Kolokesa Māhina-Tuai, Akesiumeimoana and Meleseini Tuai.

The film is needing a last push to get it over the finish line so Tulia and Craig are currently crowdfunding to raise funds to finish the film. Donations big and small are welcomed here, and check out more about the project and some beautiful film stills here:

It was a pleasure to work with Mel Aluesi again in their first Life Drawing class presented for Auckland Pride in February. Mel facilitated an excellent session and it was a pleasure to sit as a life model and observe the ways they held space for the act of drawing and responding to the Oceanic form. I would love to work with Mel on more life drawing projects… the seed has been planted!

Two heavy hitter events in February got my heart and mind going on all cylinders. Lagi-Maama Academy & Consultancy hosted a very special gathering at Māngere Arts Centre – Ngā Tohu o Uenuku dedicated to the important work and visionary leadership of Tongan scholar, Professor Hūfanga-He-Ako-Moe-Lotu Dr ‘Okusitino Māhina.

Kātoanga’i ‘o Tā-Vā: Celebrating a living legacy of Tā-Vā Time-Space was a perfect symposium. Professor Maui-TāVā-He-Ako Dr Tēvita O. Ka’ili delivered an excellent keynote on the historical timeline of Tāvāism from its earliest articulation to a consideration of how AI and ChatGPT might be harnessed as a tool for dissemination and explanation of the Tongan philosophy of time-space reality. Through other speakers I was reminded of all the ways Hūfanga has broadened my own thinking about art and harmony, chaos and beauty, symmetry and balance.

In an impressive display of Lagi-Maama’s publication projects since its inception, directors Kolokesa Māhina-Tuai and Toluma’anave Barbara Makuati-Afitu exemplified the power of publishing, to which Hūfanga later noted, “We need to own the knowledge, and the means, and the knowledge and skills to manage both, or suffer and suffocate by the politics of the process.” 

In February, Auckland-based illustrator Marc Conaco and I attended the W.E.R.O conference at the University of Waikato in Kirikiriroa Hamilton. In the absence of our project lead, Dr Sereana Naepi, Marc and I discussed our collaborative project UN/SEEN: Pacific experiences in higher education in the University’s stunning wharenui, Ko Te Tangata.

Three days of talking about racism and anti-racism was simultaneously inspiring and uplifting, triggering, infuriating and heartbreaking. It was lovely to spend time with the incredibly talented and inspiring Marc Conaco, unpacking, thinking and critiquing our positionality as creatives sitting on the periphery of these academic spaces.

The keynotes felt like beacons of light, and Canadian scholar Jeffrey Ansloos was an amazing start. I’m still thinking about hope as a praxis and ways of building and blocking to create the conditions to make change possible. Mohan Dutta’s discussion of ‘voice infrastructure’ gave me new language to think about my creative practice and its politics. I loved thinking about how stories disrupt power, and when centring love and centring joy can be disruptive practices of resistance. Both Marc and I resonated deeply with Chelsea Watego’s invigorating keynote and I appreciated so much the acknowledgment of how racism exists in anti-racist spaces. Deep respect to Papua New Guinean scholar Nathan Rew for demanding freedom for West Papua in this space, over and over again, assertively positioning Melanesia into this discourse on racism and anti-racism being considered here in Aotearoa.

In March, I loved watching the thoroughly impressive large-scale mural of the late Fa’anānā Efeso Collins (1974-2024) being painted in Manukau City by Charles and Janine Williams. It’s still emotional thinking of the loss of Efeso’s giant influence but seeing his face appear in such photorealistic splendour was incredibly moving. I love seeing him every time I drive through Manukau City.

With more misses than hits happening in the arts funding and opportunities space, alternative revenue streams are becoming more life-blood and less alternative. Making textile salusalu (Fijian garlands) is something I’m still enjoying; they are stocked exclusively at Celebrate Aotearoa in Glen Innes, East Auckland and this new page has more information about customisations and group orders – check it out.

For this month’s Global Pacific Solutions conference produced by Le Va, a wellbeing and prevention NGO, I’ve had an opportunity to curate a small digital exhibition inspired by the themes of the Moana Dreaming plenary session. Whilst these works in digital form will only be shown during the plenary session, it was rewarding to assemble such a beautiful body of work. Artist profiles and artwork can be found here.

I’m interested in being at this conference because the arts sector for visual artists feels less and less accommodating, and somehow, more isolating and unsustainable than ever. Undertaking the Master of Applied Indigenous Knowledge programme at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa has really helped ground my creative practice, stripping it back to its principles and values, an ethical compass I’ve probably always struggled to align with the arts sector.

Working on projects like UN/SEEN: Pacific experiences in higher education, I’ve been able to see where creative thinking and practice can add value to projects that sit outside of the traditional scope of the ‘arts’, and further, what creative work looks like in service to the broader socio-economic and socio-political development of Moana Oceania / Pacific people. In the case of the Global Pacific Solutions conference, I’m interested in thinking about where creative work can add value to broader contexts of addiction, suicide, mental health and wellbeing. Gratitude to Marina Alefosio for enabling this opportunity.

In the meantime, I’m making lots of things for the Celebrate Aotearoa May Pop-Up Market on Saturday 3 May – come through for bunting, mini banners, salusalu and more! Celebrate Aotearoa is a Pacific-owned and operated retail space located at 3/260 Apirana Avenue, Glen Innes, East Auckland.

Upcoming projects include a trip home to Suva, Fiji – the first return in six years, more exciting work with Dr Sereana Naepi and Dr Marcia Leenen-Young at the University of Auckland, new content and developments on kaidravuni.com, and a deepening rangahau (research) journey stemming from last year’s Solesolevaki exhibition!

vinaka vakalevu

Artwork for Sale, Events, Exhibitions, VV First Fridays

A mild wintery update from Vunilagi Vou!

To Live + Die in South Auckland was an exhibition that lived and died at Fresh Gallery Ōtara. It was an eye-opening and sadly, heartbreaking experience, but still a milestone.

  • Check out a full archive of exhibition photography by Sam Harnett here and photos from the opening by Sait Akkirman for Arts Diary here.

Making an exhibition for Fresh Gallery Ōtara felt important, like a full-circle moment taking me back to where my curatorial practice began, and inhabiting the space as an artist. My dear friend Nigel Borell filled in some of the curatorial gaps of producing this show, and is credited as ‘Curator Tautoko’, a term we devised to perhaps describe what it is when two artist-curators muddle around wearing different hats!

With Nigel Borell in front of Southside Calling (2024)

My favourite times during the exhibition involved talanoa and connection with people looking at and beyond the work on the walls. Those who travelled from far and wide to help open the exhibition blew me away; I was overwhelmed with love and support.

I also loved the opportunity to discuss my practice for the Arts Out East 2024 dialogue series, the Art of Conversation curated by Felixe Laing. Artists are invited to nominate a local eatery to hold an artist talk in, and whilst I have some firm favourite spots here in the South-Eastside, most of them have got small spaces with limited seating. So, I nominated Columbus Cafe at the Botany Mitre10 Mega, which has a massive window looking out at Puke-i-Āki-Rangi, a former Pā site on a magnificent hill covered in native bush in what is known as East Tāmaki Heights.

Photo by Stacey Leilua.

The public programme events at Fresh Gallery Ōtara during the exhibition were supported by Ōtara Papatoetoe Local Board. In my artist talk held in May, someone who has been familiar with my practice as a gallerist and curator for many years, commented that it was like I was ‘coming out as a Fijian’, which made me giggle. The comment reminded me how little of myself I bought to the act of working in service to other artists.

Photo by Nigel Borell.

Cultivating my own voice as an artist has been a bold step towards being known, being seen. In the second public programme event, we set up a drop-in collage making space, building page works and revealing stories of ourselves. I loved it so much, especially reconnecting with local artist and activist, Monica Fa’a’lavaau.

The third public programme event was a Fresh Gallery Ōtara witness seminar, an event format I had learned about from visiting Swedish curator, Maria Lind. At Tensta Konsthall, a Stockholm gallery where she was Director, they held witness seminars to understand and archive more about the social histories of the building and environment the gallery inhabited.

I put together a panel of speakers for the Can I get a witness? event we held at Fresh Gallery Ōtara on 7 June, each chosen to help build a story of social impact, innovation and creativity generation from Fresh Gallery Ōtara’s first chapter from 2006-2012. From artists who made shows at the gallery during that time to perspectives from Manukau School of Visual Arts (later MIT Faculty of Creative Arts) from Grant Thompson, and Nicole Lim, the gallery’s longest serving gallery assistant and later gallery coordinator.

(L-R) Tanu Gago, Nigel Borell, Nicole Lim, Vasemaca Tavola, Grant Thompson, Leilani Kake and Czarina Wilson.

It was a gorgeous night of storytelling, reflection and deep acknowledgement of the time and space we had all shared in what felt like Fresh Gallery Ōtara’s golden age. It was also the last official ‘VV First Fridays’ event, which focused on talanoa and opportunities for Moana Pacific artists to connect. Vinaka vakalevu to Creative New Zealand for supporting that event series.

I’ve really enjoyed building an archive of writing and commentary on Patreon and growing a community of patrons committed to small monthly donations to support my practice. I’ve enjoyed sharing insights into my creative thinking and planning, inspirations and seeing the value system of my practice reveal itself in the process. Returning to my art practice has been the most wonderfully rewarding decision of my life.

On Patreon, I share a mix of content for paid members, content for free members, and content accessible by non-members. This is the lastest post accessible by anyone:

If supporting my work is something you’re interested in doing, this is a great way to make easy donations. There are two membership tiers at present:

Outside of my art practice, I’ve been working on a project with Dr Sereana Naepi and illustrator, Marc Conaco for a year now – this is us on 2 July 2023! Good things take time, patience and dedication. It is such an immense privilege to be working alongside the eye-wateringly talented Marc Conaco and the academic leadership of Dr Sereana Naepi! So much exciting news to share in the coming months!

I’m currently re-thinking the Vunilagi Vou showroom and returning a lot of work I’ve held over Vunilagi Vou’s tumultuous five years as an on-again-off-again gallery space. Like many in the retail / small business space, attracting sales and spending in the nice-to-have market is pretty rough-going in this economic climate.

With a room to play with, that’s separate from the studio, I’ve had the chance to hang and present my own work, playing with context and story.

I made a series of Fijian salusalu (garlands) for the witness seminar at Fresh Gallery Ōtara and really loved the process. Synthetic felt is such a fun, malleable material, and the colour combinations give me such an energy boost! I wrote about the process on Patreon here (paid content, apologies!) and I’m now making these on a commission basis.

Nigel Borell was at the Venice Biennale when we opened To Live + Die in South Auckland in May, so my sister Mereia read his small speech:

I’ve thought a lot about life and death over the last few months, making and presenting this show, but Nigel reminded me about the absolutely intoxicating energy of re-birth, an energy that has fuelled Vunilagi Vou since 2019!

In May, the fifth anniversary of Vunilagi Vou quietly rolled around. The show at Fresh Gallery Ōtara absorbed any energy for celebration. I had spent the previous day making a one-day-painting to exercise support for the national day of activation called by Te Pāti Māori to stand solidly in support of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and our obligations as Tangata Tiriti. And then on 31 May, exactly fives years since Vunilagi Vou first opened in Ōtāhuhu, I watched the sun rise behind Puke-i-Āki-Rangi here in East Tāmaki, where Vunilagi Vou has lived, died and been re-born.

Grateful for patrons, supporters… those who are still moved by art histories and storytelling, and those who have the means to keep supporting art and artists, in recession times.

vinaka vakalevu

Artwork for Sale

Let’s Play Outside – New work by Niu Lemalu

Please join us to celebrate the re-start of Vunilagi Vou’s 2023 season of solos programme after an unplanned hiatus!

On Wednesday 30 August, we welcome guests to Vunilagi Vou to celebrate the opening of an exhibition of new paintings by Sāmoan painter, Niu Lemalu.

OPENING: 6pm, Wednesday 30 August 
EXHIBITION DATES: 31 August - 14 October 2023

VUNILAGI VOU
Suite 14 / 15 Bishop Lenihan Place
East Tāmaki
South Auckland

+ Parking outside the main gate and on Bishop Lenihan Place

GALLERY OPENING HOURS: 10am - 2pm, Thurs - Sat
+ Viewing by appointment any other time
APPOINTMENTS: hello@vunilagivou.com

Let’s Play Outside has been produced with support from Boosted x Moana donors and Creative New Zealand.

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Artwork for Sale, Events

VV x Aotearoa Art Fair

With support from Creative New Zealand, Vunilagi Vou presented a salon of South Auckland at the 2023 Aotearoa Art Fair (2-5 March) at The Cloud on Auckland’s waterfront.

It was a privilege to present new, recent and archival work by Nigel Borell, Dr Sione Faletau, Leilani Kake, Niu Lemalu, Genevieve Pini and Leilani Kake, alongside an historic portrait by Johanna Van Massop.

From opening night through to pack-down, we had a steady stream of visitors – many visiting the Aotearoa Art Fair for the first time, lots of artists, arts workers and appreciators from the Moana Pacific arts sectors and social networks, and a lot of new faces – folks encountering Vunilagi Vou for the first time.

It was great to be present in this space as a first-time booth-holder, and fascinating to see the working cogs of the Aotearoa art market through the lens of the Fair.

Gratitude to Mereia Carling, who spent a day transiting through Auckland, working the Vunilagi Vou booth! And to dear friend, exhibiting artist and non-stop Vunilagi Vou supporter, Nigel Borell, for working, talking, networking and Instagramming the booth for the duration of the event!

Last year we set the wheels in motion to present solo exhibitions by two South Auckland-based artists, Niu Lemalu and Genevieve Pini, here at Vunilagi Vou in 2023. Through the BoostedxMoana initiative (a partnership between Boosted [The Arts Foundation] and Creative New Zealand), we crowdfunded $10k to support the artists and the presentation of their new work.

Presenting work at the Aotearoa Art Fair was part of the process of preparing for their solos; we got to expand awareness for their practices, and gauge the ways audiences responded to their ideas. One of the best outcomes of the whole project was that both Niu and Genevieve sold their work at the Fair – an excellent endorsement and motivation in preparation for their solos.

Genevieve Pini + Nigel Borell
Niu Lemalu + Marilyn Kohlhase + Nicole Lemalu

It was also really wonderful to host members of both Niu and Genevieve’s families at the Fair. I’ve always enjoyed the ways family members talanoa about the artists in their lives. It’s gratifying to present the work of these artists within a wider context of the art market to illustrate a value system that they sit within.

Lemalu aiga
Genevieve Pini + Niece

The Art Fair was a great focus for the first quarter of the year and at the end of April, we launch a season of solos at Vunilagi Vou that will take us through to October!

Vunilagi Vou’s stockroom is currently being re-hung to accommodate for some of the unsold works from the Art Fair, including some of Nigel Borell’s gorgeous works on paper, one of which was the Atomic Coffee Roasters annual commission.

Whilst the exhibitions programme doesn’t kick off until the end of April, the VV Stockroom is open Thursday – Saturday, 10am – 2pm, or via appointment.

Artwork for Sale, Community, Exhibitions, two water shows

“Flying a drone is like being a bird” ~ Antonio Filipo on his first solo // #twowatershows

Ōtara-based artist, Antonio Filipo is currently showing as part of two water shows, Vunilagi Vou’s 2021 Autumn season. His first solo exhibition, Ngāti Ōtara is currently showing at The Alexander Cafe, a new start-up enterprise in a converted warehouse in Ōtara, South Auckland. The exhibition is a love letter to Ōtara, where the artist was born and raised, a place he is proud to call home. I asked Antonio some questions about his work…

What do you enjoy about these photographs?

These photographs are images of home and my surroundings. I have lived in Ōtara, South Auckland all my life and Ngāti Ōtara park is a beautiful place. It’s a place where I like to walk and run, and to be out in nature. There are times when I’m out in the park, and I wonder what the landscape must have looked like 30, 60 or even 100 years ago. These photographs show a sense of connection to the land and water that surrounds me and I enjoy and respect that connection.

What is your relationship to the land and waterways depicted in this body of work?

Behind my family home, we have a small channel of water. My siblings, who are much older than I am, played in this waterway with the other kids who lived on our street during the 70s. I played in that waterway as well, feeding the eels bread, climbing trees and just doing what little boys do.

These are just a few memories I have growing up about the land my family house is built on, and the waterway in our backyard. This waterway is one of many channels that run behind houses in Ōtara; they all connect to a larger body of water, and run into the Ōtara Lake. The lake sits next to the Ōtāhuhu power station, and flows into the Tāmaki River or Tāmaki Estuary. So, I like to think that I’m part of, and connected to the waters and the land that have been part of my life all these years.

The photographs show how a small waterway behind my house connects to me, and all of us in Ōtara, through the water, land and sky. I want to portray how beautiful Ōtara really is and share that perspective with our community.

What do you enjoy about the perspective of drone photography?

In 2017, a good mate of mine purchased a drone and would go on and on about how much fun he was having shooting aerial shots and clips from above. Eventually, I caved and purchased a drone too. My mate wasn’t wrong. This became a new hobby and almost everyday I would be out at the park or taking it on my travels shooting aerial shots and just trying to be a better pilot.

Flying a drone is like being a bird. It’s the bird’s eye perspective from the sky that I enjoy the most. The view of the waters and landscape is amazing and I’ve grown such a strong appreciation of what surrounds me, and for living in Ōtara. There are times I really don’t believe Ōtara looks like this when I’m flying across our skies. Especially during sunset – it is really beautiful.

The Waterway (2020)
About Antonio Filipo…

Of Tokelau and Portuguese descent, New Zealand-born artist Antonio Filipo (b.1980) resides today where he was born and raised, in Ōtara, South Auckland. Taught by renowned Moana Oceania educators Mr Palalagitoa Manetoa and the late Mr Ian George in his senior years at Hillary College, Antonio was encouraged to further his arts education and went on to study Graphic Design at Manukau School of Visual Arts, graduating in 2003.

Antonio started making drone photography in 2017 and quickly grew a deep appreciation for the Ōtara landscape from the sky. Whilst Ngāti Ōtara Park was familiar terrain on foot, the park’s waterways, bridges and surrounding industry and neighbourhoods uncover how nature and humans quietly co-exist in the hood.

Instagram @ubucanfly

Ngāti Ōtara is on until 12 May 2021 at The Alexander Cafe, 4/100 Alexander Crescent, Ōtara, South Auckland. Opening hours: Monday – Friday, 7am-3pm, Saturday, 8am-2pm.

two water shows is part of Vunilagi Vou’s 2021 exhibitions programme produced with support from our 2020 BoostedxMoana crowdfunding campaign and the generosity of 118 wonderful donors – vinaka vakalevu!

Photo credit (above): Instagram user, @kaiwith_mata

Sales & Exhibition Enquiries

All work in Ngāti Ōtara is for sale; send us a message to enquire.

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Artwork for Sale, Exhibitions

support artists / support Vunilagi Vou

As Vunilagi Vou transitions to a new shape and form, every dollar that supports the costs of shifting the location of the Gallery from Ōtāhuhu to Papatoetoe in order to re-open in October, is highly appreciated! Whilst we will be downsizing the retail offerings in the new site, we still have artwork in the storeroom available for purchase.

Our December 2019 exhibition, Finding Emory: A Poster Show, invited eight local artists to develop a new work inspired by the iconic aesthetic of Emory Douglas, former Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party. From the controversial trial of armed Police response units in South Auckland to the ongoing indoctrination of imposed body / faith politics, these seven artworks speak directly to shifts and changes that affected the lives of indigenous people in the South Pacific / Moana Oceania in 2019.

The artworks by Cypris Afakasi, Tanu Gago, Leilani Kake, Sean Kerrigan, Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho & Rebecca Ann Hobbs, Siliga David Setoga and Tokerau Wilson were produced as editions of 10, measuring 42×59.4cm (A2 size) and printed on DuraPrint, a robust plastic-coated paper. Posters are signed, unframed and priced at NZ$200 each + $15 postage and handling within New Zealand. 

“MY ANCESTORS BURNT CHURCHES – A STORY OF OPPRESSION & REBELLION” (2019) by Tokerau Wilson 

“Woman of Colour” (2019) by Leilani Kake

“Ministry of Culture?” (2019) by Sean Kerrigan

“All ears” (2019) by Huriana Kopeke Te Aho & Rebecca Ann Hobbs

“Mother Vaka” (2019) by Siliga David Setoga

“EYED-ENTITY” (2019) by Cypris Afakasi

“DEAD IN THE STREETS” (2019) by Tanu Gago

For more information on artworks and artists, please send us an enquiry here:

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