Le Folauga: Pacific Artists Respond to Vaka Moana

‘Sista Girl’, 2004
Lonnie Hutchinson black builders paper ; 15 panels ea 1m square Collection of the artist, courtesty Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch

‘Fatuvalu’,2006.
Johnny Penisula black argillite 330mm (h) x 200mm (w) Collection of the artist

Uakupenga, 2007 (there are actually two identical sculptures)
Filipe Tohi Timber slats 2x ea of 3mx116cmx32cm Collection of the artist.

Le Folauga
The response of leading contemporary Pacific Island Artists to the story as told by VAKA MOANA

MEDIA RELEASE: February 2, 2007-

Opening on March 1, featuring work from some of New Zealand’s leading contemporary artists – LE FOLAUGA will showcase what will arguably be the best contemporary pacific art exhibition to be seen in New Zealand for many years.

The genesis for this show came from a conversation in 2005 between Lonnie Hutchinson and Fuli Pereira, with the idea to parallel the museum’s planned historical Vaka Moana – Voyage of our Ancestors major exhibition with a concurrent exhibition of contemporary pacific art. The name, LE FOLAUGA, was suggested by Johnny Penisula and encapsulates the idea of bringing the learned histories of the past with us into the future, as well as the notion of ‘a flotilla moving together and forward’. The artists were invited to engage, re-interpret and re-contextualise items from the Pacific collection (featured in Vaka Moana) to give a reading and context for those traditional taonga from the homelands.

Curated by Fuli Pereira (Curator- Pacific at Auckland Museum) and Tautai trustee Ron Brownson (Senior Curator Auckland Art Gallery), LE FOLAUGA is a partnership between the Auckland War Memorial Museum and the Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust. The stunning line-up of exhibition participants present a representative sample of the best artwork created in Aotearoa by pacific artists working across a wide variety of media who include: Michel Tuffery, Jim Vivieaere, Edith Amituanai, Fatu Feu’u, Steven Gwaliasi, Niki Hastings-McFall, Lonnie Hutchinson, John Ioane, Shigeyuki Kihara, Andy Leleisi’uao, Itiri Ngaro, Ani O’Neill, Johnny Penisula, and Filipe Tohi.

The artists have been specifically chosen in order to make a provocative and memorable public exhibition of pacific contemporary visual art for whom most have created new work specifically for LE FOLAUGA.

The exhibition is being shown in both the East and West Decorative Arts Galleries on the first floor of Auckland Museum. The prominence of these gallery spaces will ensure a substantive audience will encounter the artwork during the eight week exhibition period.

LE FOLAUGA will open to the public on March 2nd running through to 29th of April.
Free entry with Donation to Museum
For more info visit the news and media section of the website www.aucklandmuseum.com

ENDS

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