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#31WriteNow Day 8: An Island missing the Ocean

on August 12, 2013

In the context of the Pacific Arts Association International Symposium, I had no idea that I would experience a sense of marginalisation and at times complete invisibility as a Pacific Islander… amongst indigenous people.

There are strong relationships between indigenous people who are minorities in their own countries. Their cultural revitalisation is a result of survival from severe acts of colonial domination and there is a natural affinity with those who have shared this experience. Maori represent the progressive and exciting potential of working in partnership with the Settler government to create all manner of opportunities for their community to prosper, reconnect and develop. Observing the nature of the relationship between Maori and the Musqueam community, the traditional landowners who have hosted the Pacific Arts Association International Symposium, has been fascinating and eye-opening.

Living as a Pacific Island migrant / guest in New Zealand has never felt more apparent. Tensions exist between Maori and Pacific communities and whilst there are spaces and places where indigenous connectedness is celebrated and explored, the social dynamic is ever present. Whilst I have worked with Maori artists and curators, and artists like Margaret Aull, Leilani Kake, Janet Lilo and Cerisse Palalagi who share both Maori and Pacific Island ancestries, I don’t venture or fully immerse myself into the territory of Maori art and culture often.

Whilst the conference itself represents a breadth of research from source countries across the Pacific region, the amount of Pacific Islanders here is fairly small. I’ve enjoyed reconnecting with Jeke Lagi, a Fijian artist from Suva, and sharing memories of Pacific Islandisms with Kolokesa Mahina-Tuai, Dan Taulapapa McMullin and Tarisi Vunidilo.

Feeling lonely so far away from home is quite depressing, but thank God for YouTube; this video always fills my heart with warmth.

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#31WriteNow Day 7: Knowing Those Who Hold Stakes

on August 12, 2013

We travelled by American school bus to the Musqueam Cultural Centre on the morning of August 7. I was excited to learn that the first day of the Pacific Arts Association International Symposium would take place in such a great space. With young people and artists milling around, located in the heart of the Musqueam Reservation and on the water’s edge, I loved the setting and felt excited to deliver my paper within that context.

I always appreciate the opportunity to speak last, and in this case, it was an opportunity to salvage some professionalism after my fellow panelists delivered poorly prepared and disorganised presentations, surprising given that both of them had secured grants to travel and participate in this conference. I have felt the weight of every ounce of investment from those who supported the #2girls1conference fundraising campaign; my paper was a small way to honour those who invested in Leilani and I, and the prestige of this forum.

I was grateful to have a full-house in attendance, and although it was far from an ideal space, the intimate environment enabled some good discussion. I love when Pacific people ask questions but so often those with privilege and agency dominate time and space. It seemed to surprise an Australian conference goer, who had addressed the panel with relatively self-serving commentary for the third time, when I declared that this forum, or rather, any academic forum about Pacific art, has little to no relevance for most Pacific artists making work at the grassroots. They are neither validated, or concerned with what is discussed here because there is a parallel world of criticality, aesthetics and significance that exists between Pacific art and Pacific audiences. I opened the door for what could be hours upon hours of debate and sparked small fires in the minds of those who approached me later to dissect and discover what I had meant.

My position and open declaration of my politics is not what it used to be when I worked as a public servant. I am in a different space, with different loyalties. I no longer represent institutional agendas and received no public grant money to enable my trip; the presumed hand that I was accused of biting with my closing remarks, is in fact not the hand that feeds me anymore.

Instead, my community, my family and my loving partner have been my foundation; as long as I’m making them proud, I’m OK, and after today – I’m more than OK.

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#31WriteNow Day 6: Mums and Mumcles

on August 12, 2013

The reality is that I’m catching up on the #31WriteNow challenge with five posts to write in one sitting. I’ve been thinking, and note taking, but ultimately overwhelmed with the time and mental energy of being at the Pacific Arts Association International Symposium, away from home, living in shared dwellings and talking long hours with very inspiring people!

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I’ve been in Vancouver one week now; I was highly stressed at the beginning of the week, coming down from an adrenalin-fuelled epic fundraising effort and then mid-week, I crashed.

One of my worst nightmares is getting uncontrollably unwell in a foreign country and on Tuesday night, I thought my brain was exploding. The most throbbing bass beat of pain was vibrating all my senses. The opening ceremony of the Pacific Arts Symposium 11th International Symposium took place at the Museum of Anthropology, a beautiful building set in a breath-taking setting. Speech after speech, performance of culture after performance of culture, polite clapping and hobnobbing. I understand the risks of offering complimentary wine and beer, and maybe I’m nostalgic for a more hospitable era, but asking guests to purchase wine at a reception still feels unwelcoming to me.

I struggled through two glasses of overpriced and vile Pinot Blanc and my head started to pound. Enduring the rest of the evening was painful, literally. I lay in bed that night wondering about brain tumours and aneurisms, being air-lifted back to New Zealand and making my family bankrupt! I’m so fortunate to have been looked after by my dear friends who are all mothers; they looked after my every need. I knew things could be worse so I tried to channel all the healing, positive energy I could and managed to sleep. The following day would be my presentation at the conference, the culmination of months of feverish funds and awareness raising, promotion and social media harassment – I needed to bring ‘A’ game.

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#31WriteNow Day 5: Curves and Ink, Nike and Polynesia

on August 6, 2013

A post about a new Nike print based on tattoo design from Fiji, New Zealand and Samoa caused Facebook blood to boil this past week. Many thought it to be blatant appropriation and that a massive global brand like Nike should be in some way paying for the rights to use the designs.

In NikeBlog‘s description, the countries are acknowledged as sources of the design concept and tattoo design is even relatively well aligned within the context of this skin-tight range. It would be awesome if a proportion of the profits made from the sale of this range could be invested in development projects in the source countries, but crediting individuals, clans, villages, regions or even countries for each motif would surely be a political, cultural and artistic minefield.

I don’t want to endorse Nike in any way, but I would wear most things in this range. For me, it would be about wearing something with cultural relevance to who I am and where I come from, but also that our tattoo has always worked to emphasise and complement the curves and bends of the body and this range would do that for even the curviest of Nesian forms. However, it is possible that like many of the more funky Nike pants, sizing will not exceed Large and the big girls will be stuck in boring black. Mehh.

#31WriteNow Day 4: Native Clarity

on August 5, 2013

The last 48 hours have been a blur.

I’m in Vancouver, preparing to speak at the Pacific Arts Associational (PAA) International Symposium at the University of British Columbia this week. Leilani and my first stop from the airport was the Musqueam Indian Reserve; our savvy native tour guide, Terry Point, gave us insights into the politics of land ownership, the background of the impressive new Musqueam Recreation Centre and Cultural Centre and the loss of language. There’s something about being on native land, something that feels like home – it was the perfect way to be introduced to Vancouver.

As the speakers, energy and culture of this Symposium start to manifest around us, I’m reminded of my responses to the last gathering in 2010. I wrote this response at the time; it was inspired by a particularly disempowering experience and generated excellent conversations around the politics of this gathering and the interface of practitioners and scholars, Pacific and non-Pacific.

Whilst I’ve made my position known, and my anti-elitist, grassroots politics have the potential to rub institutional minds the wrong way, Leilani keeps reminding me why it’s important that we’re here.

#31WriteNow Day 3: Mama Loco & Riding The Wave of Ethnic Cool

on August 4, 2013

At Mama Loco, an Auckland Mexican themed bar and eatery, my boyfriend and I were asked to provide a credit card or debit card before being served food in the outside seating area. It was a slightly confronting request, a protocol we would have preferred to have been informed of when being greeted inside the establishment. We wondered if everyone in the outside seating area had been asked the same thing.

Whilst most Mexican themed eateries in Auckland attempt to create an authentic or stylistic Mexican feel, there is a sharp curve of quality and customer service. At the bottom is most definitely MEXICO Food & Liquor in Britomart; mediocre and overpriced food, rude service and terrible pixelated pictures of Frida Kahlo offensively stuck up around the toilet. At the top is Ellerslie’s Mexican Specialties – warm, genuine service, exquisite food, and only open Thursday through Saturday.

Mama Loco’s decor is eye-catching but their prawn taco – mediocre, and their service slightly shambolic. I think of my last trip to California; Leilani and I were staying in downtown L.A and found a little underground Mexican eatery which was cheap, delicious and full of Mexicans. It may seem old-fashioned in the context of globalisation, but when Mexican food and culture is presented and sold by Mexicans, it blows every imitation out the water.

Whether Mama Loco has an unspoken ‘brown person’ policy or not, it was an interesting example of what is presumably young, hip entrepreneurs with their eye on alcohol profits riding a wave of ethnic cool. Good luck with that.

#31WriteNow Day 2: Tongan Massage & Jim Beam

on August 3, 2013

20130802-235431.jpgI’m still in the hazy aftermath of almost three months of planning and fundraising and today was a day filled with distractions. Without a car, I end up catching rides with friends and sitting in on some pretty random adventures. Yesterday I witnessed a cow running loose in Otara. Today I wiled away waiting time watching Jenna Marbles’ video “What are this” on repeat.

There’s something about being a passenger that makes me want to drink and I’m still a little bit on that celebration flow. I probably drank one can too many this afternoon before coming home for a Tongan massage from my partner’s father. I subconsciously do this – before getting tattooed or massaged – that little bit of alcohol in my system seems to amplify pain and I DON’T KNOW WHY I KEEP DOING IT.

Tu’i massages remind me of all the physiotherapy and chiropractor therapy I’ve had but harder. I’d say it’s deep tissue but it feels like sometimes he touches bone. My god, it hurts. It hurts real bad, and today it was almost unbearable. But Oh Em Gee when it’s done, I literally feel… Remarkable – like there’s electricity surging through my veins. I could honestly skip down my street; I feel ah-mazing. With my back cracked and a body fully charged with secret stores of muscle magic, I feel well prepared for this weekend’s 14-hour flight to Vancouver.

I’m thankful for Tu’i, for sharing the art of Tongan healing massage with me, and for our long broken English conversations about babies (i.e when will I produce his son’s children), work stories (a work ethic of epic proportions) and famili.

After the massage we all ate steak and watched Cops. A perfect Friday night.

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#31WriteNow Day 1: Challenge accepted in #SouthAuckland, #Aotearoa / #NewZealand

on August 1, 2013

I love reading Luvvie Ajayi‘s writing and have taken up the challenge to blog everyday in August as part of her #31WriteNow challenge!

I’m always in the throws of multiple simultaneous art projects, and August will be a cocktail of travel, speaking engagements, event planning, pitching and assignment writing. I’m drawn to the #31WriteNow challenge because I’m 31 right now, and life is pretty good!

I’ve come to the tail end of the #2girls1conference fundraising campaign – an epic journey with my art ally, Leilani Kake. Through crowdfunding, hand-printed art t-shirts and an amazing art auction, we managed to raise NZ$8000 in two months! We hosted our final event last night – an opportunity for our community here in South Auckland to hear the papers we’re delivering next week at the Pacific Arts Association (PAA) 11th International Symposium in Vancouver. It was a good night – we loved situating that kind of event / discourse right at the grassroots and we’re super grateful to the Otara Scorpions for hosting us. Thanks also to Kolokesa Māhina-Tuai, the other PAA speaker from South Auckland, who also delivered her paper last night. Kolokesa is sharp as a knife; the kind of curator I’m proud to be associated with!

Leilani and I are so excited to be leaving for Canada this weekend. Despite this not being a holiday, it’ll just be nice to get out of New Zealand albeit briefly. I still want to see a bear, but I’m not sure if that will make it onto the itinerary.

I’ve been thinking about acknowledging all the people who contributed to the #2girls1conference campaign – I’m compiling the list. It’s pretty massive. I’ll be blogging everyday in August, so watch this space!

#2girls1conference: The #Otara Talks, Wednesday 31 July

Media Release

23 July 2013

South Auckland Community First In Line For International Art Talks

The local South Auckland community will be the first to hear local arts leaders present papers due to be delivered at the Pacific Arts Association’s International Symposium in Vancouver next month with a special preview evening to be held in Otara at the end of July.

After months of selling hand-printed t-shirts, an art auction selling works donated by local artists and a PledgeMe campaign taking place to fund the trip to Canada, Leilani Kake, Ema Tavola and Kolokesa Māhina-Tuai are giving the local community that has both inspired their papers and made the trip possible the first opportunity to hear their presentations.

Ms Tavola says that she is looking forward to sharing her ideas with the local arts audience.

“My art career was established in Otara; presenting my paper here first reflects the kaupapa of putting Otara and the Pacific at the centre of what I do.”

Ms Kake, a video installation artist and educator, will be talking about her chosen creative discipline in Pasifika Obscura: Pacific Video Art from New Zealand. Ms Māhina-Tuai, a curator and writer, will discuss The Mis-Education of Moana / Pacific Arts and Ms Tavola will reflect on her years of experience in curating exhibitions for Fresh Gallery Otara in Pacific Art for Pacific Audiences: Grassroots Curating in South Auckland.

Each presentation will last around 15 minutes, with time after each for the audience to offer feedback and suggestions.

Event details

What: Pacific Arts Association International Symposium Paper Preview Evening

When: Wednesday 31 July, doors open at 6.30pm, 7pm start

Where: Otara Scorpions Rugby League Clubrooms, Ngati Otara Park, cnr Alexander Crescent and Otara Road, Otara

Cost: $5 at the door + sausage sizzle

#2girls1conference Art Auction: Tepora Malo

Tepora Malo

Title: REAL TALK series
Date: 2013
Medium: Screenprint on 300gsm Archival Paper
Dimensions: 594x420mm [unframed]

Born in 1992 and raised in South Auckland, Tepora Malo is a Samoan visual artist studying at the Faculty of Creative Arts at Manukau Institute of Technology. Noted for her innovative mash-up design style combining Island florals with animal print and urban iconography, Malo collaborated with Leilani Kake and Ema Tavola to produce the REAL TALK T-shirt design for the #2girls1conference campaign.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Creative Arts, Malo plans to develop her print and design practice expanding into fashion and textiles.

Back to the #2girls1conference Art Auction Online Catalogue