The Veiqia Project is a creative research project inspired by the practice of Fijian female tattooing. Five contemporary Fijian women artists have been engaged in Australia and New Zealand to participate in shared research activities and Museum visits to inform the development of new artwork. The Veiqia Project exhibition will take place in Auckland, New Zealand in March 2016 for the Auckland Arts Festival, and coincide with the Pacific Arts Association XII International Symposium.

iQia (tattooing comb) Fiji, William O. Oldman Collection. 538b, Deposited 1950. AM 31507. © Auckland War Memorial Museum – Tāmaki Paenga Hira

At its heart, The Veiqia Project involves seven Fijian women – five artists and two curators – on a journey of artistic and cultural enquiry.

Through a shared online research forum and time spent with Fijian collections at museums in Australia, Fiji and New Zealand, the artists have generated an indigenous research archive driven by personal, artistic and relational connections. The project has drawn significant support from Auckland Museum, Fiji Museum, the Fijian Art Project, practitioners, supporters, friends and family engaged both on and offline.

The Veiqia Project’s strategic alignment with the Pacific Arts Association XII International Symposium is an effort to foreground the important dynamic between indigenous artists, Museum collections, the past and the present, the ‘collected’ and the ‘collector’.

Artists

Margaret Aull (Waikato, New Zealand), Donita Hulme (Sydney, Australia), Joana Monolagi (Auckland, New Zealand), Dulcie Stewart (Brisbane, Australia) and Luisa Tora (Auckland, New Zealand)

Curators

Tarisi Sorovi-Vunidilo & Ema Tavola

Official Photography

Sangeeta Singh

Exhibition Venue

ST PAUL St Gallery Three, 63 Wellesley Street East, Auckland, New Zealand

Exhibition Dates

15-26 March, 2016

The Veiqia Project has received significant project funding from Creative New Zealand

The first exhibition of The Veiqia Project has been made possible with support from

Image credit: Sangeeta Singh, with permission from Auckland Museum