Patron: Fatu Feu’u (Patron) Board of Trustees: Gina Cole (Chair), Loloma Andrews, Ron Brownson, Joanna Gommans, Tui Hobson, Colin Jeffery, Chris Van Doren. Tautai Office: Christina Jeffery (Communications Manager), Edith Amituanai (Tautai Administrator), PO Box 68 339, Newton, Auckland

w w w . t a u t a i . o r g • t a u t a i @ t a u t a i . o r g J u n e 2 0 0 6

THIS ISSUE: Lorene Taurerewa, Whoa To Go, Aaron Taouma, Postcard from Wellington, UK Pasifika Styles, Yuki, Ahota'ae'loa Toetu'u

For Lorene Taurerewa, Chinese visual art has becomethe medium to explore the paths back to an original

source. “I have always had a deep interest in my ownfamily history, (Samoan/ Chinese) which informs mywork from a base of intimate knowledge. My Chineselineage can only be traced four generations back andthen is lost for all time. The only way ‘forward’ as Icould see was to study their art forms”. Sheacknowledges her Chinese heritage as the mainsource of inspiration for her most recent work, twelvelarge scale figurative drawings, which, through theconventionality of the portrait, emerge into visibility toremind us of the unavoidable and necessary work ofinheritance and her/our relationship to the lostancestor other.

Acknowledging a need to see the art first hand, Lorenespent a winter in New York where she researchedtraditional Chinese art at the Metropolitan Museum ofArt. This involved studying and drawing from theircollection, one of the largest collections of Asian art inthe world. “Just after I arrived a fantastic newexhibition of Chinese ancestor portraits went up.Along with Chinese mark making concepts I wasspecifically interested in ancestor portraiture. Everyday I would go to the Met to draw and found myselfstudying the postures intently as the nuances of thehuman gestures in their arts are very subtle andcommunicate on many levels. For instance, inChinese tradition, portraiture is a portrait not of the individual, but of the immortal. Aportrait does not present a view of an individual as if through the eyes of someonesharing a place in time with the sitter, as in traditional western portraiture. Instead,Chinese portraits are venerated as encapsulations of the ancestor; they are acollective view of what the outward form of the figure shows of something much more

enduring and unchangeable, namely that whichwalks through the family lines from generation togeneration.

The main body of Lorene’s work has been painting butsince returning from New York she has concentratedon drawing as the medium to lessen the ‘gap’, or thespatial barriers between viewer and maker. The scaleand execution of her drawings have effectivelyallowed her to draw attention to its conspicuouslymarked surfaces and encourages the possibility ofbeing read as a trace of the artists hand, a way of‘embodying’ the artist and drawing attention to thebody of the spectator. Traditional Chinese markmaking concepts evoke the illusion of presence andempathy: a trace of the movement of the artists hand‘the mark’ is liable to bring awareness of the artist asan embodied being, of the process (the duration) ofdrawing, and of the space of the work’s making (thatis, the space in front of the drawing as opposed to thespace ‘within’ it). Consequently, Chinese drawingtradition holds that the drawer and the viewer inhabitthe same world, on this side of the paper. There is nobelief, as there is in western tradition, in the possiblereality of the illusioned - that you can enter a 2Dspace imaginatively. The drawing is not a window toanother world, but an empathy space where thedrawer and the viewer come together in thecontemplation and commemoration of a fact. In this

instance, the fact is the 2-sided coin – on the one side the fleetingness of time, action,mark in time; and on the other the continuity of family, the immortality of ancestry.

Taurerewa returns to New York in 2007 to further her practice. She lives and works inWellington and is a coordinator/lecturer for Life Drawing for Designers at VictoriaUniversity, Schools of Architecture and Design.

LoreneTaurerewa

Wouldn’t it be good when Pacific history is no longer considered myth.

As its Matariki time I thought I’d create a new theory of the world to celebrate theMaori New Year.

I was going over my whakapapa on my mothers’ side the other day, which my grandfather -whom I’m named after – diligently collected. It traces through forty- two generations beforeit gets to me. Reading through the names is like a who’s who of so-called Samoan mythologyaccording to people like Henry or Kramer. Then lo, an idea struck me, I could cross referencethe European versions of our stories with my family tree and see how close they get it.

What a revelation, some of the books refer to quite a few of my bloodline, eg Pili theso-called progenitor of Samoa or further back to my ancestor – who they say is myth- Rata and his magic va’a - they even got that story wrong and Rata was not the namehe was born with, in fact there were two brothers - but that’s another story.

This made me think further, if European history is correct and our history is myth then howcome the scientific world is slowly coming around to Pacific thinking and so-calledmythology. I make my point thus; in many Pacific cultures we talk of ancestors bubbling outof the ground, or oozing out of the ground. We’ve spoken of having fish and bird ancestors,thousands of years later there’s the theory of evolution as portrayed by Wallace and Darwin.

In Samoa as well there are stories of how inside the earth turned a burning sea that

seeps out of the ground and rose to form Samoa - the sacred centre-.thousands ofyears later Western science comes up with plate tectonics, of undersea transformfaults occurring as the earth grows under the ocean.

So, extrapolate that thought if life first bubbled up here then it would make sense tosay that life would have grown close to the source, which then could mean what weSamoans have been saying for a long time.

Samoa is the centre of the world and all mankind grew from the Pacific, even if I have toclaim as protozoa we left our breeding ground and found ourselves all throughout the world.

Western civilisation laughed, when we talked about lands being fished up byancestors, they called it myth yet base their calendar on a man who could walk onwater and rise into the sky after being dead for three days.

So as we can trace our ancestry back to protozoa and oozing rock does that mean wecan claim all the lands of the world. Maybe I’m like my other tupuna who was the kingof Manu’a, in Cooks time they saw fleets from Hawaii and Tahiti calling to pay tribute(uumiti) to the king of Manu’a.

So I’m still waiting for my uumiti from the world leaders as the king of Manu’as’ heirand if that doesn’t work then I’ll claim Taranaki which belonged to my Ancestor Lu orRu, but that’s another story …Happy Matariki … Ole Maiava from Porirua.

Postcard from Wellington

Watch the Tautai Website and the weekly Pacific ArtsDiary for News of Upcoming Events and Exhibitions*

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Chair’s ReportNi sa bula vinaka

Since writing for the previous newsletter there have been some personnel changesto the Tautai Board and Management team.

Jim Vivieaere has left the Board and I thank him for his valuable assistance as co-chairwith myself and for providing the arts focus on that side of the role. Melipa Peato has alsoleft the Board due to the new direction in her life and she is thanked for her contributionboth on the Board and also as the voice of Tautai on the weekly radio spot.

The management team has also changed in the last quarter. The Board received withregret the resignations of Lonnie Hutchinson (Artistic Director) and Itty Nikolao (ExecutiveDirector). The Board and I sincerely thank Lonnie and Itty for their contributions to themanagement and progress of Tautai. Christina Jeffery, the Communications Manager, isfilling the role of acting manager while we recruit for a full time manager. Christina isbeing assisted by Edith Amituanai as Administrator in the Tautai office.

Shigeyuki Kihara has become the Tautai Arts Correspondent on Radio 531 PI. So tunein to 531 PI at 7.45am on Tuesday mornings to listen to Yuki’s entertaining reports.Also do not forget to have a look at the virtual gallery on the Tautai web site. Theinformation at www.tautai.org is being regularly updated and the addition of newimages and artists is in progress.

The next Fresh Horizons series of workshops for art students is currently being organised.This will take place in Hamilton later this year. Visits by Tautai artist members to tertiaryinstitutions are also in the process of being set up.

We are most excited to announce the confirmation of an art exhibition that will take placeat the Auckland Museum. This is a joint project between the museum and Tautai and willtake place during the museum’s special exhibit “Vaka Moana”. The exhibition will consistof commissioned artworks which will be responding to selected artefacts in this majormuseum event.

Thank you from me and the rest of the board and management for your continuing supportof Tautai Trust. Ni sa moce mada – Gina Cole (Chair)

J u n e 2 0 0 6 w w w . t a u t a i . o r g • t a u t a i @ t a u t a i . o r gWatch the Tautai Website and the weekly Pacific ArtsDiary for News of Upcoming Events and Exhibitions*

UK, Pasifika Styles and more...

Giles Peterson went to the UK to attend Pasifika Styles andthe PAA Conference and sent us this report

Friday May 5: 9am land at Heathrow London, shell-shocked. Hurtle throughimmigration, get the tube to Eusten and the fast train to Cambridge, arrive at

Cambridge University Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology for Pasifika Styles –The exhibition. The sun beats down, a warm breeze blows. The Pacific was obviouslysending hugs, as it was a stunner of a day in all respects. The exhibition is a fantasticachievement, took three years to plan and runs till 2008, so if you get to London, noexcuses. CUMA has Britains second largest collection of pacific artefacts, Amiria,Rosanna and Anita Herle and her team have done a great job, and to see the taongahonoured the way they were, side by side in conversation with the contemporary workof the exhibiting artists, is a rare treat..

Warm greetings all round with Rosanna and Reuben, Hilary and Filipe, Ani, George,Niki and Jason, Chris and Lizzie, Lisa and James – you’d swear it was a Tautai gettogether. Glad I arrived earlier in the day than planned, and I’m sure it was all meantto be, any later would have meant I would have missed the special blessing of theexhibition. Che Wilson was master of ceremonies, George did an amazing wero, andthen artists, the curators and museum team, myself and family members, all movedinto the museum through the exhibits and into the top gallery, for what was a verymoving ceremony. Then it was time for a cup of tea, a tidy up, and then the officialgala launch and party at 6pm at the museum that night. The opening was packed, andso many New Zealanders in the audience, surprise surprise. May 6 back to the EastEnd in London with my godfather for a five day whirl of museums, art galleries, artschools, markets stalls and shops! On the 10th another exhibition of pacific artists –Red Wave opened at the October Gallery in London; I was back in Cambridge andCUMMA on May 11th - for the start of Pacific Art Association European 2006conference meeting. The pace was relentless. Day 1 there was the Melanesian artsession, a guided tour by Amiria and Rosanna of Pasifika Styles, and the informal artfair, which Tautai was also represented at. Six of the exhibiting artists were

showcasing their work and I received a lot of foot traffic from the museum andconference delegates at the Tautai stand. I think it was the red tshirt Christina!Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, a reception followed and the next day was theContemporary Art session, which I was presenting at, so I toddled off for an earlynight. May 12. ‘D’ day for me – thank goodness I checked out the lecture room the daybefore. Cambridge University is a warren of medieval looking buildings and narrowwinding streets. Someone was smiling on me as I got an afternoon session to present.First up Dr Rossi on the work of Kauge, then myself on Pacific Fashion, Body Art andAdornment, followed by Dr Stevenson on Contemporary Pacific Art. It was a buzz –the images looked great, the feedback and interest amazing, a very rewardingexperience. Then a cup of tea with Fuli, Roger, Patricia, and afterwards a lot of us allpiled down to the pub and sat outside on the verge by the river cam. Someone got outsome poi, people sat and talked and unwound, it was a beautiful evening. Dinner atan Indian restaurant in Cambridge, then back to the station in the rain to get the trainto Great Chesterford, back at CUMAA 9am sharp for the trip to the Sainsbury VisualArts Centre, and the final day of the conference. May 13 we travelled to Norwich tothe University of East Anglia’s Sainsbury Centre. It’s a large modernist building set ina park-like setting, surrounded by sculptures by Henry Moore. The exhibition – PacificEncounters – that we were there to see was awesome and I took some nice photos(no flash) of Cook Island taonga for Ian George. Ani and Maureen, Filipe, George andWayne, Che, Reuben and Natalie, Maia, and Aroha, Hillary, Rosanna and Tracey wereall deeply engaged in discussions and examining the fine work on display, as were all.It really was lovely. Lucky really as the Centre hadn’t even been finished, its officiallaunch occurring a week later. The afternoon was given over to another session ofpapers presided over by Steven Hooper. That night, a conference knees up and dinnerat Kings College, Cambridge – what a magnificent night. Well if you’re going to do it– do it with great company and do it in stylish surroundings. May 15 on to Manchesterand another whirl through galleries and the countryside, then on to Divine BarcelonaMay 18 to 22; the Picasso Museum, two days back in London then out to Hong Kong,where I meet up with Hilary and Filipe for a fabulous time at the Temple Street nightmarkets.…but that’s for another newsletter. Take care. Love Giles.

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Aaron Taouma is one of the four artists who created work for the web based artproject whoa to go that was commissioned earlier this year and which is now live

on www.tautai.org.

He’s not too sure about being called an artist but musesover the fact that he likes to express himself through theconstruction of ideas into a greater semblance ofmeaning and asks – is that art? And, does that make himan artist?

Aaron is technically savvy, is a fast learner and takes totechnology with ease. But this is balanced with a sense oftradition, culture and history. Aaron believes strongly in thepossibilities of technology but believes we have some wayto go in how we interface with these technologies. Not thathe is actually sitting around wondering what to do in the meantime, you understand, he’s notone to let the grass grow…

Aaron comes from a family of musicians, poets and philosophers; and hales from GreyLynn. After leaving school he went to Unitec and completed a television and videoproduction course. From there he went to the University of Auckland and whilecompleting a BA double major in Sociology and Media Studies he got involved in theatre.

This led Aaron to work at the Maidment Theatre and also with the Pacific TheatreCompany. The company was under the direction of Justine Simei-Barton at this timeand was the training ground of the current ‘stars’ of the screen - think ‘Sione’sWedding’ and ‘Bro Town’.

Aaron got involved in the lighting, stage management and production side; areas that hereally enjoyed and has continued to pursue. Around this time he also worked onChristchurch based Pacific Underground’s ground breaking production ‘Fresh off the Boat.’

The opportunity to attend a writing and scriptwritingworkshop provided still more stimulation and soon Aaronsaw the flickering of a thought turn into a gem of an idea,developed into words on paper and culminating inproduction and the silver screen. He wrote the short film,‘Malama’ in the first Tala Pasifika series.

With all those artistic and creative ideas inside him, off hewent to Training College followed by seven years ofteaching. Two years ago he left teaching with no firm ideaof what he was going to do but a strong desire to

concentrate on writing. Consequently, he is about to have a short story published in aRandom House anthology ‘The Myth of the 21st Century’ and this has followed variousother publications last year.

Aaron also took part in the French mini-series called ‘Stevenson’s Fale’ and this meantshooting in Cuba. This is an entire story in itself but whilst working on this project,Aaron (not one to miss an opportunity) shot the making of the series and turned thisinto an item which screened on ‘Tagata Pasifika,’ TVOne.

This is where you will find Aaron today, working as a director come reporter andgenerally keeping the fires burning. And, to the future? Aaron wants to keep tellingstories but is flexible with the media he uses – paper, computers, television and film.

Watch the Tautai Website and the weekly Pacific ArtsDiary for News of Upcoming Events and Exhibitions*

Aaron Taouma

w w w . t a u t a i . o r g • t a u t a i @ t a u t a i . o r g J u n e 2 0 0 6

The continuing development of the Tautai website has made it a key source forinformation on pacific artists and on current events, lending itself to be continually

updated, almost weekly, as well as added to, with new initiatives, such as theestablishment of a virtual gallery and its first exhibition.

At the end of last year Andrea Low, Aaron Taouma, Fletcher Vaughan and Mario Crosswere commissioned with Creative NZ funding to create a ‘short’ filmic work over atime frame of four months. The project was given the working title ‘from Whoa to Go’a trigger that implied a time lapse or the act of taking an idea to its inevitableconclusion. It enabled the artists to dwell on general or discreet obsessions relevantto their current art practice, inclusive to or beyond the parameters of culturalspecificity or issue driven politics of identity.

Emil Tangaroa, with his studio and professional technical skills, was responsible for givingshape and continuity to the entire project and for the presentation of the completed workswhich were launched at the Internet Café on High Street in Auckland on the 15 March 2006.

The project is also indebted to Albert Refiti who presented a critical response of theartists’ works at the opening and whose eloquent essay, Faalavelave: EntangledIdentities, is attached to the website.

‘From Whoa to Go’ could be viewed not only as a collaborative experience of thevirtual, but as a telemetric swansong for the co-ordinators, Lonnie Hutchinson andmyself with our recent resignations from our official roles with Tautai.

And

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“Whoa to Go”http://www.tautai.org

By Jim Vivieaere

Aar

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Fletcher Vaughan

Tautai receives major publicfunding from Creative NZ andalso receives significantfunding from The ASB Trusts.

ARTS COUNCIL OF NEW ZEALAND TOI AOTEAROA

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Design and layout of the Tautai NewsletterDesktop Graphics LtdContact: Tagi Cole

43 Selbourne Street, Grey Lynn, Auckland • Ph : 09 -376 3889 • Fax: 09-376 3969Mob: 027-482 6302 • desktopgraphics@xtra.co.nz

J u n e 2 0 0 6 w w w . t a u t a i . o r g • t a u t a i @ t a u t a i . o r gWatch the Tautai Website and the weekly Pacific ArtsDiary for News of Upcoming Events and Exhibitions*

Events, Exhibitions & Happenings

3 – 21 July: Kâmö ka wê vi, Isabelle Staron-Tutugoro, Reef Gallery,Auckland

4 – 22 July: Sasa’la, Fatu Feu’u, Warwick Henderson Gallery

6 July – 2008: Mo Tatou: Ngai Tahu Whanui, Museum of NZ Te PapaTongarewa7 – 9 July: The Original Art Sale, ASB Stadium, AucklandUntil 9 July: Phantasmagoria, Lonnie Hutchinson & Nathan Pohio,Jonathan Smart Gallery, ChristchurchUntil 15 July: Traces of the Past, inc. Lily Laita, Lonnie Hutchinson,Lane Gallery, Victoria Street EastUntil 30 July: 2 x 2 Contemporary Projects, Edith Amituanai, CityGallery, Wellington

Until 6 August: Journey of a 1000 miles, Lorene Taurerewa, SarjeantGallery, Whanganui21 July – 10 August: Misplaced Effigies, Sheyne Tuffery, FlagstaffGallery, Devonport29 July – 18 August: Schools Out, Jeff Lockhart, Fatu Feu’u, SheyneTuffery, Niki Hastings-McFall, Isabelle Staron-Tutugoro, RichardShortland-Cooper, Filipe Tohi, Karl Chitham, Donna Tupaea, PapakuraArt Gallery29 July – 19 August: (Re)Locating Home, Elisabeth Alani, JuniorIkitule, Leilani Kake, Vinesh Kumaran, Dean Purcell, 'Ahota'ei'loaToetu'u, Fresh Gallery, Otara4 August – 24 October: Parallel Seductions, Lonnie Hutchinson, CityGallery, Wellington

5 – 25 August: The Living Art of Pacific Tattoo, An exhibitionfeaturing many artists, curated by Steven Ball, Mangere Arts Centre,Shop 17, Mangere Town Centre19 September – 7 October: Paradise Lust, Lonnie Hutchinson, MaryNewton Gallery, Wellington19 Sept – 7 October: Ellie Fa’amauri, Artful Gallery, Morgan Street,NewmarketUntil 30 September: Hei Konei Mai: We’ll Meet Again, inc. MichelTuffery, Auckland Art GalleryUntil 2008: Pasifika Styles, Cambridge University Museum, UK., includes work by: Lonnie Hutchinson, Niki Hastings-McFall,Shigeyuki Kihara, Chris Charteris, Greg Semu, Filipe Tohi, John Ioane,Michel Tuffery, Sheyne Tuffery, Ani O’Neill, Rosanna Raymond

Yuki Shigeyuki Kihara was in San Francisco recently for the opening ofa show with Dan Taulapapa McMullin at the San Francisco LGBTCommunity Center. Images show Yuki during her performance atthe opening and also with Dan and ceremonial chanter John Tunui.

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Edith and Tali Amituanai at the opening of ‘Mrs Amituanai’, City Gallery, Wellington.

Queens Birthday Weekend. Giles Peterson was one of two judges of the Womans ArtExhibition in its 4th year in Gisborne. Over 200 works by artists from all over NewZealand were displayed for 10 days in Montana’s Lindeaur winery. Was great to meetNiuean artist Lina Marsh (pictured here with Giles) who was won a highly commendedaward for her entry.

LoaToetu’u Emerging Artist

Above is an untitled work by Ahota'ae'loa Toetu'u. Loa is a young emerging artist whorecently exhibited at the Fresh Gallery in Otara. This new space is a Manukau City initiativewhich is managed by former Tautai board member Ema Tavola who is herself an artist.