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!
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- Check out a growing archive of practice on VasemacaTavola.com
