VV First Fridays: On courage

In a gentle start to the year, Vunilagi Vou’s first VV First Fridays event is on Friday 3 February and tackles the topic of courage.

The VV First Fridays event series was supported in 2022 by Creative New Zealand as a means to build community amongst Moana Pacific artists and the wider creative ecology here in South Auckland. The series of 10 events take place on the first Friday of the month from February to November, a low-key creative social club to get inspired, motivated and thoughtful at the start of each month.

In February, Vunilagi Vou invites anyone interested to come and listen to two inspiring Fijian creative thinkers talking story about their experiences of courage; when it’s needed, how to harness it and where it comes from.

Mereia Carling and Gina Cole have both had careers that have moved between creative pursuits and high-level professional roles in the fields of regional development and law. Courage is something they’ve both discussed, encouraged and inspired in those they’ve worked with and served, but like everyone, it has also been something they’ve had to understand and harness in their personal lives.

This conversation about courage is less a TED-talk and more a story sharing space; how does a Fijian lawyer become a Taekwondo practising sci-fi writer dreaming of worlds of Pasifikafuturism? How does a graduate of a fashion and textiles design training in Bristol, England end up working in child rights across the Pacific, and painting portraits of ancestors in Wellington?

Sometimes, being around a conversation about courage is enough to shape, inspire and mobilise courageous acts.

Vunilagi Vou is proud to welcome guests for the first time in 2023 to meet two inspiring and courageous women, break bread, kick back and enjoy a hazy summer evening at VVxET in East Tāmaki on Friday 3 February – doors open at 6pm, all welcome!

  • Vunilagi Vou is located at Suite 14, 15 Bishop Lenihan Place, East Tāmaki, South Auckland – more details here.
  • Public parking is available outside the main gate; entrance to the compound is via pedestrian gates.
  • Refreshments provided.
  • The venue is wheelchair accessible, please get in touch to make special arrangements.

Mereia Carling

Mereia Carling is a Fijian with i-Taukei and Pākeha ancestry. Born in Aotearoa New Zealand, she has only lived in this country for three years, moving just before the pandemic – a journey of courage that took her to the sheer edge of sanity. Not the first one however, moving countries and changing careers – finding and following her destined path – has been and continues to be a journey of self-discovery, finding faith and the ancestors, and depths of courage she did not know she had. While she works a paid job that advances human rights for children and youth across Aotearoa New Zealand’s international development cooperation, she is an artist at heart. Qualified as a designer of fashion and textiles, she previously worked as an artist and designer before venturing into the development world. She has been writing her ‘story’ for the last 14 years to document her journey of courage, and has recently found enough life/work balance to start painting again.

Gina Cole

Gina Cole (Fijian, Pakeha) MNZM, writer, lives in Tāmaki Makaurau. She won Best First Book Award at the 2017 Ockham NZ Book Awards for her collection Black Ice Matter. Her work has been widely anthologized and has appeared in numerous publications. She has appeared at many writing festivals, conferences and residencies including Auckland Writers Festival, Same Same but Different LGBTQIA+ Writers Festival, CoNZealand World Science Fiction Online Conference, Brisbane Writers Festival, Michael King Writers Centre Established Pasifika Writer’s Residency, Iowa International Writers Residency, Sitka Island Institute Alaska Residency and Varuna Writers House Residency, Katoomba, Blue Mountains, Australia.  She is a qualified barrister & solicitor and practised law for many years. She holds a Masters of Creative writing and PhD in Creative Writing and is an Honorary Fellow in Writing at the University of Iowa. Gina has written two short film scripts for PISA Screen Fit. She also works as a background extra and has appeared in multiple film and television productions including The Rings of Power, One of Us is Lying, Sweet Tooth, The Wilds, Whina, Our Flag Means Death, Shortland Street, Brokenwood Mysteries and many others. Her science fiction fantasy novel Na Viro (Huia) is a work of Pasifikafuturism.

#VVxAlexander Talanoa Series – fresh takes, hot tea & industry real talk in Ōtara, #SouthAuckland

This month we launch a new series of talanoa events at Vunilagi Vou’s shared premises at The Alexander Cafe in Ōtara, South Auckland.

The series centralises the exchange of ideas, and the time and space for talking story, brokering collective understanding and building networks amongst the creative community. Four thematic approaches have been developed to draw out conversation on issues that are shaping the landscape for artists, cultural producers and arts workers currently engaged in the creative and cultural sector in Auckland and throughout Aotearoa.

The VVxAlexander Talanoa Series builds on the successful 2019 Southside Talanoa Series delivered in Ōtāhuhu in partnership with Auckland Council’s Pacific arts programme. This year’s series has been supported by Creative New Zealand’s Pacific arts programme and is proudly Moana (Pacific)-led, delivered in partnership with Moana (Pacific) and indigenous-owned and operated businesses.

The Alexander Cafe is located at 4/100 Alexander Crescent, Ōtara, South Auckland – free parking is available outside the venue and on Alexander Crescent. The venue is wheelchair accessible and light refreshments will be available.

Whilst these talanoa events will not be recorded or live streamed, a programme of in-depth conversations with select speakers from the four events will be developed as online content – more details to come.

First up…

The first of four monthly talanoa events invites three local creative producers to unpack the drivers for creating films, events and activations that benefit, make visible and serve communities they are part of.

Jep Savali (Manatua Promotions & Consultancy), Vea Mafile’o (Malosi Pictures Ltd) and Tanu Gago (FAFSWAG) will share insights and stories in conversation with Ema Tavola (Vunilagi Vou) drawing on a broad spectrum of professional experience in the fields of event production and programming, film and television, visual arts and storytelling.

The VVxAlexander Talanoa Series foregrounds arts management and leadership as an area of critical importance for the development of the Moana (Pacific) arts sector. These talanoa events are an opportunity for arts managers to share their experiences, the challenges they have overcome and offer ideas for the future for audiences of locals, artists, stakeholders and change makers. All welcome!

WHEN: Doors open 6pm, Friday 27 August
WHERE: The Alexander Cafe, 4/100 Alexander Crescent, Ōtara, South Auckland
COST: Free

Youth Talanoa x The Alexander Cafe, #Ōtara, #SouthAuckland

Next Thursday, Vunilagi Vou is excited to be hosting a talanoa for Māori and Pacific youth in South Auckland to share insights about the issues, challenges and joys of living here, and hear about what some of the issues, challenges and joys are being a young person in the Pacific Region.

Our guest is Mereia Carling, who recently relocated from Suva, Fiji to work at the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade where she is the Senior Advisor Inclusive Development – Child and Youth Wellbeing.

Mereia will also share some pathways to a career in Foreign Affairs and how she is intrinsically connected to Vunilagi Vou as Ema’s big sister and forever advisor and supporter ✨🌺✨

WHEN: 6pm, Thursday 1 July 2021
WHERE: The Alexander Café, 4/100 Alexander Crescent, Ōtara, South Auckland

⚡️ No registration necessary
⚡️ Light refreshments provided

Questions about the event? Send Ema an email: hello@vunilagivou.com

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:

#FATFEB – A season of radical fat positivity!

February is dedicated to FAT at Vunilagi Vou! We’re unpacking the word, the stigma, celebrating fat body experience and calling out fat phobia in all its forms! We’re hosting a massive programme around our first exhibition for 2020 entitled, FAT, including a new series of body positivity workshops supported by Auckland’s Creative Communities Scheme, and producing an exciting signature event with local artist and fat activist, Lissy Cole, in the form of the Fat Babe Pool Party!

Get amongst Vunilagi Vou’s season of radical fat positivity!

 Exhibition

FAT  curated by Ema Tavola

Featuring Louisa Afoa, Riki Tipu Anderson, Lissy Cole, Jessicoco Hansell, Infamy Apparel, Meagan Kerr and Elyssia Wilson-Heti
Opening Night: 6 – 8pm, Tuesday 4 February
Exhibition Dates: 5 – 29 February 2020

 Workshops

Writing the Fat Experience

Free, registration recommended
Facilitated by Elyssia Wilson-Heti
6 – 8pm, Saturday 8 February
Vunilagi Vou Arcade

Drawing the Fat Body

Free, registration essential
Facilitated by Leilani Kake
6 – 8pm, Saturday 22 February
Vunilagi Vou Studio

Contact hello@vunilagivou.com to register for workshops

   Party

FAT BABE POOL PARTY

Tickets (Presales only) $50
3 – 8pm, Saturday 15 February
Including panel discussion featuring:
❤ Meagan Kerr aka This is Meagan Kerr
❤ Jessicoco Hansell aka Kuini Qontrol aka COCO SOLID
❤ Dr Cat Pausé aka Friend of Marilyn
Mount Richmond Hotel, 676 Mt Wellington Highway, Ōtāhuhu

❤ Contact fatbabepoolparty@gmail.com for ticketing information
❤ Proudly supported by Auckland Council as part of the Pacific Arts Programme

 Dialogue

#RealTalk: Fat Reflections Talanoa

Free, all welcome
Facilitated by Lissy Cole & Ema Tavola
4 – 6pm, Saturday 29 February
Lissy Cole Designs HQ, 168 Avenue Road East, Ōtāhuhu

Keep up to date on Vunilagi Vou events and activities across social media!

#FATFEB has received support from

Enquiries