David Garcia

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2021 was… a lot.

2021 has been perhaps the most challenging year of my professional career, but pandemic pivots, shapeshifting and cold hard lockdown reality checks sat alongside some pretty amazing and uplifting moments. In the spirit of the season, here are some of 2021’s most wonderful highlights:

FATFEB 2021

This year, FATFEB was produced under the creative leadership of South Auckland designer, Amy Lautogo, who developed an ambitious programme that added to and honoured the inaugural programme developed in 2020 in partnership with Ōtāhuhu-based artist and designer, Lissy Cole.

>>> Check out last year’s Fat Babe Pool Party here.

The 2021 programme activated the Vunilagi Vou 2.0 space beautifully, fully utilising the fale for the Talanoa and life-drawing events, and what would have been a site-specific performance work by Ria Hiroki and Elyssia Wilson-Heti, were it not for a Covid-19 community outbreak situation and snap lockdown in Auckland in mid-February.

It was a privilege to produce the second manifestation of the FATFEB kaupapa; the 2021 programme attracted significant funding from Creative New Zealand’s Pacific Arts funding programme and engaged audiences and raised awareness all over Aotearoa. Whilst Vunilagi Vou won’t be producing a 2022 programme, it has always felt like a platform to amplify and make visible conversations about BBIPOC fat liberation and build community without a sense of ownership; since FATFEB 2020, it has been lovely to see fat babe pool parties happening in Pōneke and Ōtautahi. It’s also always a pleasure to see events like FATFEB play a small part in the exciting careers of young artists like Sara Moana and social media creator slash cultural commentator MahMah Timoteo.

two water shows

two water shows was Ngati Ōtara by Antonio Filipo and big islands deep oceans by David Garcia, twin solo exhibitions that ran concurrently at two sites in Ōtara and Papatoetoe from 29 March until 12 May 2021.

The concept of two water shows was a public/private approach to exhibition making in South Auckland, locating one exhibition in a community space, and one at Vunilagi Vou 2.0 in residential Papatoetoe. Thematically connected, each independent exhibition was made site specifically for their unique settings.

At The Alexander Café, Ngati Ōtara was the first solo exhibition by Ōtara-based artist, Antonio Filipo; his eight recent aerial photographs offered a birds eye view on Ngāti Ōtara Park, its waterways and surroundings, and a necessary shift in perspective of Ōtara and its natural beauty.

At Vunilagi Vou, big islands deep oceans was a suite of new works by Ōtautahi-based mapmaker, David Garcia, depicting the majestic Pacific ocean floor made up of submarine structures and habitats that evolve with the water and atmosphere over time.

two water shows was part of Vunilagi Vou’s 2021 exhibitions programme produced with support from our 2020 BoostedxMoana crowdfunding campaign and the generosity of 118 wonderful donors.

>>> Read a short interview with Antonio Filipo here
>>> For artworks still available from these exhibitions, get in touch.

The Alexander Cafe, Ōtara

The Alexander Cafe was a great space to flex some new ideas in 2021. Finally a spot in Ōtara to get decent coffee and to present site-specific exhibitions in good light with local audiences. Whilst we moved out formally from the mezzanine floor space in November, fellow creative entrepreneur Czarina Wilson has stayed on with her beautiful boutique retail operation, Celebrate Aotearoa.

Portraiture in South Auckland

“Diamonds in the Back” Series (2021) by Genevieve Leitu Pini

The last exhibition produced in 2021, and perhaps for the foreseeable future was Picture Me Rollin’ – Portraiture in the Southside at The Alexander Cafe. The new work by Genevieve Leitu Pini, Marcus Hipa and Niutuiatua Lemalu was so good and whilst the exhibition was cut short by another lockdown, I’m excited to see where these artists will show and go in the future.

Yoga & Meditation at Vunilagi Vou 2.0

One of the most rewarding parts of 2021 was the season of Yoga & Meditation classes at Vunilagi Vou 2.0 led by Gamo Farani Tomlin. Bringing together small and eclectic groups of locals, Gamo’s classes made a big impact for everyone who attended. For me, these classes were critical in managing the cyclonic energies of 2021 – so much gratitude for Gamo!

Whilst from the back-end of being an event and exhibition producer, the amount of Covid cancellations, rescheduling and pivoting 2021 required was exhausting and often disheartening, this year was also a great year to start selling online, grow a new community on Twitter, make artwork again during lockdowns, and publish Vunilagi Vou’s first title, VV:Dua.

In 2022, Vunilagi Vou won’t be producing an events and exhibitions programme for the first time, but some exciting projects currently underway will be coming to life, including:

>>> Producing new work for Volume: Bodies of Knowledge curated by Torika Bolatagici for Metro Arts, Brisbane and Bus Projects, Melbourne.

>>> VV: Southside Swan Song – A second publication about Vunilagi Vou’s growth, output and philosophy, produced with support from Creative New Zealand Pacific Arts programme.

>>> Supporting a small group of Moana Pacific artists on inspiring independent research and exhibition projects – good things take time and talanoa, love it!

*Grounded* work in progress by Ema Tavola for *Volume: Bodies of Knowledge*

And a relocation from South Auckland to Wellington! So open to what will come from this major cultural shake-up and recalibration of time and space!

To everyone who has bought artwork and merch and supported a year of stop and start programming, across two locations, online and offline – thank you, sincerely, vinaka vakalevu.

All the best for a restful and safe festive season!

Events, two water shows

Friday Night Talanoa: MahMah Timoteo

This Friday 7 May, we are excited to be hosting a kickback Friday night talanoa with Ōtautahi-based educator, activist and social media maven, MahMah Timoteo.

Honouring the current exhibition, big islands deep oceans – a solo exhibition of maps of the Pacific ocean floor by David Garcia, MahMah Timoteo will be discussing her current doctoral research that centres indigenous voices in climate change narratives.

Both David Garcia and MahMah Timoteo will be travelling from Ōtautahi / Christchurch for the event, where they are both PhD candidates at the University of Canterbury.

big islands deep oceans is a body of work that invites us to reconsider the role maps play in our understanding of the Pacific ocean, “… the seas of islands of the Pacific do not end at the shoreline and reefs. They continue as massive submarine structures and habitats that evolve with the water and atmosphere over time. The land/sea binary, while convenient for many, is a false notion, yet many maps operate on such binary, among other binaries.” ~ David Garcia

MahMah Timoteo first visited Vunilagi Vou in February where she participated in a the FATFEB Talanoa discussing the role of social media in creating a community of fat liberation in Aotearoa. Alongside Siobhan Tumai and Meagan Kerr, MahMah brought a strong dose of real talk and wicked humour!

Back in the hood in a different capacity, MahMah will discuss her doctoral research, entitled ‘Akarongo, ‘Āpi‘i, Arataki – Listen, Learn, Lead – Our ancestors guide us. Amplifying Indigenous Voices in Climate Change Narratives.Decolonising Climate Change Spaces.

“Centring indigenous voices is crucial to the prosperity and well-being of not only marginalised populations but also the survival of our entire planet. By undertaking this research, we are able to dismantle and disrupt the very values and beliefs that limit our understandings of indigenous environmental knowledge. Nations of people that have contributed the least to this current climate crisis are now being impacted the most by its consequences. These are the communities that should have their voices heard, acknowledged and centred.

My study aims to demonstrate the importance of Pacific indigenous lived experiences throughout climate change narratives and activism. By critically analysing current global climate change narratives and discussions, this research identifies how different power dynamics exist within storytelling, shaping the way people understand climate change and bringing fourth decolonised methods of addressing our world’s climate crisis.” ~ MahMah Timoteo

This is set to be an inspiring and disruptive talanoa!

Entry is free, but snacks and drinks to share, and donations are welcome.

Parking is limited, so ride sharing is recommended.

Doors open at 6pm – seating is on the ground, but some chairs will be available for those who need them. Vunilagi Vou 2.0 is wheelchair accessible but does not have a disability friendly bathroom.

Vunilagi Vou is located at 26 Laureston Avenue, Papatoetoe, South Auckland.

Event enquiries? Send us a message here:

Events, Exhibitions, two water shows

Talanoa & Hustle

During the 2021 Auckland Art Fair, I participated in a panel discussion that was part of the ‘A Base of People’ series curated by Remco de Blaaij (Director of Artspace Aotearoa) entitled, Parallel Worlds, a new imagination on internationality. I had the privilege of speaking alongside Auckland gallerist, Tim Melville, Melbourne-based curator and writer, Kimberley Moulton and Porirua-based curator, Ioana Gordon-Smith; check it out here:

Vunilagi Vou’s Autumn 2021 season, two water shows runs until 12 May at The Alexander Cafe in Otara and Vunilagi Vou 2.0 in Papatoetoe.

Make an appointment to view David Garcia‘s solo exhibition, big islands deep oceans at Vunilagi Vou here.
Check out Antonio Filipo‘s solo exhibition, Ngāti Ōtara at The Alexander Cafe during business hours: Monday – Friday, 7am-3pm and Saturday, 8am – 2pm. The Alexander Cafe is located at 4/100 Alexander Crescent, Otara, South Auckland.

On Saturday 10 April, we hosted a floor talk with David Garcia on Instagram; David offered generous insights to the thinking and making of the nine beautiful map works in the exhibition, check it out here:

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The Vunilagi Vou online shop was established after Auckland’s fourth Covid-19 lockdown in a year and it has been quietly humming away. Unfortunately, due to lengthy and unpredictable international shipping timeframes, we are currently only shipping within Aotearoa New Zealand. Grateful to everyone who has purchased Vunilagi Vou stock, largely remaining from our Ōtāhuhu premises (Vunilagi Vou 1) where our retail arm was a fairly significant part of the business.

The top sellers since the shop opened last month are:

The Struggle (2019) by Ema Tavola / Nicole Lim, poster print, 420x594mm, NZ49

NB Not Today Coloniser badge, produced to support the work of Tū Tonu, NZD10

100% Pure Fijian Waka – 250g bags of kava from Kadavu and Saqani, NZD30/35

We’re also proud to be stocking a small range of Vunilagi Vou goods at Avondale-based creative enterprise, Moana Fresh, who have a pop-up coming up at the end of the month:

Next month, we are excited to be hosting Ōtautahi-based educator and social media maven, MahMah Timoteo for the second time this year! MahMah blew the audience away during the FATFEB Talanoa here in February with her oratory excellence – she is an incredibly engaging speaker, deeply passionate and wickedly funny!

In honour of David Garcia’s solo exhibition, big islands deep oceans at Vunilagi Vou, which pays deep homage to the Pacific ocean, MahMah will join us for a talanoa to discuss her current research that centres indigenous Pacific Islander voices in climate change narratives.

My study aims to demonstrate the importance of Pacific indigenous lived experiences throughout climate change narratives and activism. By critically analysing current global climate change narratives and discussions, this research identifies how different power dynamics exist within storytelling, shaping the way people understand climate change and bringing fourth decolonised methods of addressing our world’s climate crisis.
~ MahMah Timoteo

Along with special guests to be announced, this talanoa will take place at Vunilagi Vou 2.0 from 6pm on Friday 7 May.

Space is limited, entry is free but donations are welcome! Located in a residential cul-de-sac, Vunilagi Vou 2.0 does not offer extensive car parking options so ride sharing is recommended. Find a map and venue address here.

Yoga & Meditation classes at Vunilagi Vou have been drawing together a broad cross-section of our local community. If you know anyone who would benefit from these classes, they are designed to make the benefits of yoga and meditation accessible to South Auckland communities and all levels of ability are welcome. Drop instructor Gamo Farani Tomlin a text on 021 1001448 or send a DM on Instagram to book a spot – classes have an 8 person capacity and run on Mondays at 5.30pm and Wednesdays at 10.30am at Vunilagi Vou.

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Finallly, a new exhibition curated by Julia Albrecht and Stephanie Endter is opening at the end of this month at Weltkulturen Museum in Frankfurt, Germany, entitled Hidden in Plain Sight. Invited to participate as an artist, I made an extension of the 2019 Vunilagi Vou exhibition, Lain Blo Yu Mi – Our People Our Lines focusing on the work of Melanesian mark maker, Julia Mage’au Gray. The work is an autoethnographic photo essay on the transformative nature and process of Julia’s work in relation to my veiqia, Fijian female tattoo.

My work sits alongside artwork and ideas by FrauHerr Meko (Darmstadt, Germany), Kitso Lynn Lelliott (Johannesburg, South Africa), Joana Tischkau (Frankfurt/Berlin, Germany) and Shan Goshorn (Tulsa, USA).

If you’re in Frankfurt, check it out!

vinaka vakalevu

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Water + focus

Two new exhibitions are opening next week – one at Vunilagi Vou, and one at The Alexander Cafe in Otara. Located less than three kilometres apart, the two sites are hosting twin solo exhibitions by local artist Antonio Filipo and Christchurch-based mapmaker, David Garcia.

Coined as two water shows, the joint solos both depict personal relationships with water. David Garcia’s stunning maps show us the world below the Pacific Ocean, a landscape of mountains and ravines, gullies and deep trenches. Their consciously decolonising approach to mapmaking represents a challenge to the power inherent in creating man-made boundaries and territories, and the role of mapping within the forces of imperialism.

Ōtara-based artist Antonio Filipo is a graduate of Manukau School of Visual Arts and has remained connected to its site where his family home backs on to Ngāti Ōtara Park, the largest public park in Ōtara. Antonio started making aerial photography in and around Ngāti Ōtara Park in 2017 and grew a fast appreciation for the beauty of the landscape from a bird eye view, tracking the waterways from the creek behind his home to the Ōtara Lake and on to the Tāmaki Estuary.

From David Garcia’s work in big islands deep oceans and Antonio Filipo’s exhibition, Ngāti Ōtara, we are offered an opportunity to adjust our perspectives from the seafloor to the skies above and consider our lives as what lies between them, wholly dependent and surrounded by water.

Both exhibitions run from 29 March – 12 May 2021 and have been produced with support from Vunilagi Vou’s 2020 BoostedxMoana crowdfunding campaign – much gratitude to our 118 wonderful donors who have made these exhibitions possible.

Viewing big islands deep oceans by David Garcia at Vunilagi Vou is via appointment only, and Ngāti Ōtara by Antonio Filipo is viewable during The Alexander Cafe’s business hours: Monday – Friday, 7am-3pm and Saturdays, 8am-2pm. The cafe is located at 4/100 Alexander Crescent, Ōtara.

Both exhibitions will open with a Private View / Opening Reception at Vunilagi Vou on Monday 29 March at 6pm.

Next week, we also launch a new programme of Yoga & Meditation classes with South Auckland-based Sāmoan yoga and meditation teacher, Gamo Farani Tomlin. Classes have been programmed to encourage participation from local Māori and Pacific communities, particularly mums, stressed out artists and freelancers, and anyone who wants to take small steps towards being better, sharper, more flexible and connected.

This new programme starts on Wednesday 31 March with classes delivered on a weekly basis at:

5.30pm on Mondays
10.30am on Wednesdays

With a limited class size, booking is essential via texting Gamo on 021 1001448. Participants need to bring their own yoga or exercise mat, towel and water bottle and each class costs just $5.

The first three months of 2021 have been a great quarter for art sales – grateful to our buyers whose purchases have actively invested into the practices of Māori and Pacific artists. So much of the work sold at Vunilagi Vou goes into South Auckland-based collections and Māori and Pacific homes, which means the value of this work keeps circulating and benefiting our lives and communities.

Our VV Online Shop has been busy too – more products are added all the time and it’s great to see new appreciation for products we held and loved selling at our Ōtāhuhu site.

As always, Instagram and Twitter are the bulletin board for Vunilagi Vou activity – check out the ebbs and flows of Vunilagi Vou through artists, connections and archives of Moana Oceania art history in Manukau City / South Auckland.

vinaka vakalevu

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Kava + Hustle: Updates from the South

This is a long overdue update!

As we shift and flex to the constant unknowns of our pandemic reality, Vunilagi Vou continues to adapt and evolve in its new environs here in Papatoetoe, Manukau City / South Auckland.

Collectors and collections in South Auckland

Our VV Stock Room sale was an excellent way to close 2020, selling a number of works that had been part of Vunilagi Vou exhibitions since opening in 2019. In early 2021, we found a new location for the ever-expanding ‘stock room’ collection in the new cafe and social enterprise, The Alexander Cafe in Ōtara, South Auckland.

The Alexander Cafe has offered locals a space for meetings, healthy kai, talanoa and now an opportunity to enjoy works by local artists, largely made in and about the South Auckland environment and social landscape. Located in a semi-industrial site, filled with natural light and centrally located a stone’s throw from the Ōtara Town Centre, the high stud and crisp white walls offer an exciting opportunity for artwork to be seen and appreciated by largely local audiences. As such, a series of exhibitions is in the pipeline, to activate the space and create a dialogue between Vunilagi Vou’s exhibition programme and the more public setting of the cafe.

The first exhibition pairing between The Alexander Cafe and Vunilagi Vou is two bodies of work by David Garcia, an Ōtautahi-based doctoral student and cartographer committed to decolonising map making, and Antonio Filipo, an Ōtara-based former student of Manukau School of Visual Arts now honing his skills in aerial drone photography. The exhibitions are due to open at the end of March, Covid-pending!

The Alexander Cafe has already proven to be an exciting site to move more locally produced work into local collections, one of Vunilagi Vou’s driving principles.

Features + Research

Late last year, we enjoyed being part of the new look and feel Metro magazine in an article written with care and nuance by Lana Lopesi profiling both Vunilagi Vou and Avondale-based creative enterprise, Moana Fresh. It was also a privilege to be mentioned in Rosabel Tan’s excellent overview of the health of the local creative economy in the age of coronovirus. Tan’s article for Metro entitled, Flip the Switch was a refined version of a larger piece of research commissioned by Te Taumata Toi-a-Iwi, which can be read here.

Tū Tonu: a community of Southside practice

In December, Vunilagi Vou invited a group of South Auckland-based arts managers, curators and advocates together to break bread and reflect on year of significant change. Whilst all living in and significantly connected to the South Auckland area, everyone present represented an emerging community of qualified arts professionals who have exited mainstream arts and cultural institutions where they had been heavily involved in strategic social inclusion and high quality community engagement-driven programming.

A decision was made at this gathering to form a collective called Tū Tonu, to channel collective skills and institutional knowledge back into the South Auckland creative ecology to promote investment and generate more arts and culture activity driven by and for our local communities. Including Nigel Borell, Tanu Gago (FAFSWAG), Leilani Kake, Iokapeta Magele-Suamasi, Kolokesa Uafā Māhina-Tuai and Toluma’anave Barbara Makuati-Afitu (Lagi-Maama Academy and Consultancy), Jep Savali (Manatua) and Ema Tavola (Vunilagi Vou), Tū Tonu is committed to meeting regularly to offer collective support, critique, knowledge and network sharing.

This badge was produced to show solidarity for curator Nigel Borell when he chose to resign from his senior curatorial role at Auckland Art Gallery at the end of 2020 after producing the landmark exhibition, Toi Tū Toi Ora. Proceeds from the sale of these badges go towards the work of Tū Tonu; buy one here!

In February, some members of Tū Tonu participated in a Zoom hui with ruangrupa, a Jakarta-based interdisciplinary arts collective represented by member, Farid Rakun. The conversation was facilitated by Artspace Aotearoa as part of The Drift-Kōrewa: ruangrupa Podcast Series. Listen here:

Exhibitions, revisions and gratitude

Our Vunilagi Vou 2021 programme has been supported in large part by a crowdfunding effort via Boosted late last year. To 118 generous donors, and everyone who helped amplify and share the campaign – thank you so, so much. Our first exhibition this year, Pussy Fat, was part of the FATFEB programme and whilst it encountered a few revisions in the artist line-up, it has ended up being a sweet joint show.

Kava + Hustle

A new development for Vunilagi Vou has been the importation of premium grade Fijian kava, a high quality organic product and significant ingredient in the act and practice of talanoa, an event format and approach that has been increasingly part of Vunilagi Vou’s programme.

Whilst the traditional communal practice of drinking kava needs certain revisions in the age of coronavirus, the effects and benefits are unchanged. With mildly hallucinogenic qualities, kava is said to have a similar effect on the brain as alcohol, promoting calm, relaxation and reflection. Outside of the Pacific region where it is used in both ceremonial and informal settings, kava or Piper methysticum has been researched as a natural stress-reliever, reducing anxiety and even relieving pain.

Importing Fijian kava also reflects a concerted effort to support Fiji’s economy which has been severely impacted from the global recession bought on by the pandemic.

We are developing some resources to guide first-time kava drinkers to mix and reflect on the protocols of drinking kava in Fijian contexts, but there are also excellent sources available online. Check out the two varieties we currently stock from the regions of Saqani in the north of Fiji, and Kadavu in the south here.

Kava is one of a small range of products now available via our Vunilagi Vou online shop, one way to keep this creative enterprise ticking when lockdowns create frustrating pauses in activity. The shop represents a curated collection of limited edition and hard-to-find art products that made up much of our retail range when the commercial premises of Vunilagi Vou in Ōtāhuhu was closed last year. Although limited to New Zealand shipping options at the moment, it is envisioned that international shipping will be possible in the near future.

Apologies for a long break in updates! More coming soon!