Join us for an incredible morning of talanoa and experience our current exhibition  Voyagers: The Niu World  with the show’s curators and artists Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows and Tui Emma Gillies.  

A final chance to hear from these incredible artists and gain a deeper insight into their work as they discuss the process of developing the show.  Sulieti and Tui will take you on a journey through the gallery, explaining their art and the inspiration behind each piece.   

Sulieti and Tui will also treat us to a taste of making and working with tapa.   

One last chance to talanoa with these incredible women as we draw near to the final days of  Voyagers: The Niu World.  

Artist Talk | Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows and Tui Emma Gillies 
When: Saturday 15 May, 11am–12pm              
Where: Tautai Gallery, 300 Karangahape Road, Auckland  
FREE EVENT

For further information please email us
Tautai.org  #tautai4lyfe

Meet the mother-daughter artist duo creating a new Polynesian art style together

Mother-daughter artist duo Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows and Tui Emma Gillies tell Garth Cartwright that, despite their differences, they’re cut from the same cloth.

From a South Auckland bungalow to international art galleries, mother and daughter Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows and Tui Emma Gillies are achieving remarkable things with their tapa cloth paintings.

The art they co-create is both beautiful and ominous, reflecting as it does concerns close to all of us: family, Covid, cultural traditions, the Pacific environment, our pasts and futures.

To read the full story subscribe to WOMAN Magazine online or purchase a copy from your nearest retailer.

Voyagers – The Niu World is on at Tautai Gallery until May 22, 2021
Gallery Hours: 10am – 4pm (Tues – Fri)
11am – 4pm (Saturday)

Tautai.org
#tautai4lyfe

A performance not to be missed!

The artworks of Voyagers: The Niu World are a vivid celebration of intergenerational creativity. Mother and daughter artist team Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows and Tui Emma Gillies created their stunning ngatu (tapa paintings) accompanied by the music of Tui’s son Pele Gillies, an extraordinary young pianist who provided constant inspiration.

Pele delighted and amazed those at the Voyagers: The Niu World opening, playing a selection of classical works and his own compositions. His talent on the piano took life amongst the artworks, representing the third generation involved in this creative enterprise – the music enhancing the connection to fāmili, bringing together the artistry of each family member – in isolation, together, a multi-layered connection of creativity, joy and imagination.

Join us on Saturday 8 May for an afternoon with Pele Gillies, as he treats us to a live piano performance, bringing his distinctive verve and zeal to the gallery. Gather your aiga for the opportunity to catch this budding young pianist and composer at the very dawn of what we know will be a remarkable life in the arts.

Head to the Facebook event page and click “going” to RSVP

Pele Gillies live at Tautai as part of VOYAGERS: The Niu World
When: Saturday 8 May, 2pm
Where: Tautai Gallery, 300 Karangahape Road, Auckland
Light refreshments provided

For further information please email us
Tautai.org  #tautai4lyfe

What an incredible few weeks we have had at Sulieti’s Kiekie Masterclass!

Across two Saturdays, Sulieti hosted workshops on how to make Kiekie, a traditional Tongan garment to be worn around the waist. We learnt how to weave these adornments from scratch whilst enjoying beautiful kai, coffee and chit chat. Mālō ‘aupito to Sulieti for facilitating these masterclasses, to the participants and to our Ngāue ‘Ofa volunteers for all their help over the last two weeks!

We can’t wait to host more workshops in the future, watch this space!

Voyagers – The Niu World is on at Tautai Gallery until May 22, 2021
Gallery Hours: 10am – 4pm (Tues – Fri)
11am – 4pm (Saturday)

For further information please email us 
Tautai.org #tautai4lyfe

Mother-daughter duo Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows and Tui Emma Gillies, creators of Voyagers – The Niu World exhibition explain what inspires their unique tapa art. They discuss the effects of the global pandemic and the importance of family which are the central themes in their show.

“We’re voyaging through this pandemic and if we look back at our ancestors, they just jumped on these big vakas and they took off to destinations around the world that they had no idea what it’s going to be like. And so, for me I was looking at the pandemic and just thought wow, we’re like them.”

Tui Emma Gillies

Voyagers: The Niu World is on at Tautai Gallery till May 22

For further information please email us
Tautai.org #tautai4lyfe

Over two exclusive, hands-on workshops, spend the morning with Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows MNZM and make your own kiekie.

A longstanding cultural tradition that is unique to Tonga, kiekie are ornamental garments worn around the waist. Highly decorative and incorporating a variety of natural and manmade materials, kiekie are worn as a sign of respect and connect the wearer to ancestors and tradition.

Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows learnt nimamea’a from her mother and aunts when growing up Falevai in the Vava’u Island group of Tonga. Since moving to New Zealand as a young woman, Sulieti found, as did others in the Pacific diaspora, that traditional materials were not easily available and adapted to using what she could find here.

Using locally sourced materials, join Sulieti and learn to make your own kiekie in the setting of current exhibition Voyagers: The Niu World at Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust.This workshop takes place over two Saturday sessions – please make sure you’re available for both sessions before signing up. Limited spaces available.

To reserve your space phone (09) 375 1665 or email programmes@tautai.org
Head to the Facebook event page for more info.

Voyagers – The Niu World is on at Tautai Gallery until May 22, 2021
Gallery Hours: 10am – 4pm (Tues – Fri)
11am – 4pm (Saturday)

Tautai.org
#tautai4lyfe

Watch Voyagers – The Niu World
Opening Night Highlights Video

Mālō lahi ’aupito to everyone who came the opening of Voyagers – The Niu World!

Thank you to everyone who made this night so special. We are so blessed to work alongside such talented artists and to receive endless support from our amazing community.  

Shout out to our content creators NoSix for capturing the essence of the evening in this video!

Voyagers – The Niu World is on at Tautai Gallery until May 22, 2021
Gallery Hours: 10am – 4pm (Tues – Fri)
11am – 4pm (Saturday)

For further information please email us 
Tautai.org #tautai4lyfe

Mālō lahi ‘aupito to everyone who came through to support the opening of Voyagers: The Niu World. 

Check out the photo gallery below!

We want to acknowledge the creativity of Tui and Sulieti, who’s beautiful mahi fills the space, highlighting the journey of our ancestors, and putting family at the forefront of everything they do.  

Fa’afetai lava to Reverend Mua Strickson Pua for blessing our space and being the MC for the evening.  

Thank you to Pele for sharing your incredible talent, we look forward to seeing it grow and develop. Also to the Heilala group for their tau’olunga faka’ofa’ofa mo mālie.  

Mālō to 8 Roses Catering for the delicious kai, Hallertau for the beers, and all those who helped us to manaaki our community.  

A big thank you to No Six for capturing the evening, including these awesome photos by Isoa Kavakimotu, watch this space for more of their mahi!  

We are so happy we could finally share this exhibition with you, thank you for your support.   

Mālō lahi ‘aupito,  
Tautai Team 

All photographs by Isoa Kavakimotu

Voyagers – The Niu World is on at Tautai Gallery until May 22, 2021
Gallery Hours: 10am – 4pm (Tues – Fri)
11am – 4pm (Saturday)

For further information please email us
Tautai.org  #tautai4lyfe

Mālō e lelei! Introducing VOYAGERS: The Niu World opening night performer Pele Gillies! 

A baby-grand piano will be situated within the exhibition space for the duration of Voyagers: The Niu World. The piano represents an intergenerational connection to Tui Emma Gillies’ son, Pele Gillies, whose piano playing provided a soundtrack during the production of many of the tapa in this exhibition. 13-year-old Pele is a relative newcomer to performance, having had his first piano lesson in September 2019. He quickly fell in love with piano and classical music and enjoys hunting out new obscure compositions to learn and play. Hear Pele play an original composition at the exhibition opening this Friday!

Voyagers: The Niu World
20 March – 22 May 2021
Tautai Gallery, Level 1 – 300 Karangahape Road, Auckland Central

For further information please email us 
Tautai.org #tautai4lyfe

Si’oto’ofa! 

Tautai invites all tertiary students to experience our current exhibition
VOYAGERS – The Niu World with the show’s curators and artists Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows and Tui Emma Gillies. Learn about the process of developing the show, get to know the artists and gain a deeper insight into their works. It will also be a chance to talanoa with the artists and other students.

WHEN: Thursday 25 March 2021, 11am
WHERE: Tautai Gallery, Level 1, 300 Karangahape Rd
Light refreshments provided

Head to our Facebook event page and click ‘going’ to RSVP

For further information please email us 
Tautai.org #tautai4lyfe

Mālō e lelei! Introducing VOYAGERS: The Niu World  curators and artists Tui Emma Gillies and Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows!

The mother-daughter duo are presenting the first show at Tautai Gallery for 2021! They are Tongan artists who specialise in tapa, their work is known for its distinctive and contemporary motifs whilst honouring and faithful to the traditional methods and practices of their ancestors. Together they have exhibited at galleries and museums throughout Aotearoa and across the globe. Their solo exhibition at Tautai Gallery will feature a range of works created during lockdown and a variety of new pieces. This exhibition aims to tap into the spirit of the great explorers of the Pacific, consulting the stars and charting a course into the wild blue expanse.

Voyagers: The Niu World
20 March – 22 May 2021
Tautai Gallery, Level 1 – 300 Karangahape Road, Auckland Central

For further information please email us 
Tautai.org #tautai4lyfe

Si’oto’ofa! Tautai is proud to announce it’s first exhibition of 2021.

<< Voyagers: The Niu World >>
Created by Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows
and Tui Emma Gillies

Following the announcement that Auckland will be moving to Alert Level 1, we are happy reschedule the opening for VOYAGERS – The Niu World to Friday 19 March .

Combining pieces created during Aotearoa’s lockdown and new work, this exhibition aims to tap into the spirit of the great explorers of the Pacific, consulting the stars and charting a course into the wild blue expanse.

“The waves have never been bigger or more threatening, the storms have never been so savage, the fires have never been so close and hot. And we are expressing this in the medium we were brought up in, tapa painting, which has been passed down from generation to generation by those people who made the original voyages and their ancestors before them. This exhibition is dedicated to all us Voyagers navigating The Niu World.”

– Tui Emma Gillies & Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows

We are honoured to be working with these talented women and we look forward to sharing their work with you all.

Voyagers: The Niu World
20 March – 22 May 2021
Tautai Gallery, Level 1 – 300 Karangahape Road, Auckland Central

For further information please email us 
Tautai.org #tautai4lyfe

Meet the Curators and Artists of Voyagers: The Niu World 

Introducing the mother/daughter duo Tui Emma Gillies and Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows

Together they have created an intergenerational exhibition which reflects on navigating a changed world in the midst of a pandemic. 

Video by NoSix

The opening of Voyagers – The Niu World has been postponed due to alert level 3 in Tāmaki Makaurau.

For further information please email us 
Tautai.org #tautai4lyfe

TUI EMMA GILLIES – Change of alert levels affects exhibition at Tautai Gallery

Eteuati Eteuati talks with Tui Emma Gillies about how the latest Covid19 alert level changes has affected her and her mothers exhibition which was to open in Auckland’s Tautai gallery tomorrow night, Friday 19 February 2021

Listen to the full interview here

For further information please email us
Tautai.org #tautai4lyfe

What Latest COVID Level Changes Mean to the Arts

In light of Auckland’s level 3 lockdown from February 14 2021, a number of art shows and festivals are coming to a grinding halt once again.

Read the full article here

For further information please email us
Tautai.org #tautai4lyfe

Tongan artists’ exhibition navigates the ‘Niu’ world on tapa

Voyagers: The Niu World showcases a collection of tapa artworks by award-winning Tongan artists Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows and her daughter Tui Emma Gillies. 
Their collection was created during and after lockdown and reflects on the idea of navigating a changed world in the midst of a pandemic.

“We’re all voyaging at the moment through rough waters because we don’t know what our destination is going to be at the end of it,”

Tui Emma Gillies

Read the full article here

For further information please email us
Tautai.org #tautai4lyfe

Tongan tapa-making in a lockdown bubble

Sulieti and Tui chat to Lynn Freeman about the Coronavirus era and the way in which the word “bubble”  has come to mean safety and sanctuary.  But can bubbles also be cages, forcing families apart?
This is one of the ideas explored by mother and daughter, New Zealand-based Tongan ngatu or tapa artists.

Listen to the full interview here

For further information please email us
Tautai.org #tautai4lyfe

Mother-daughter team to open Pacific art gallery with lockdown journey on tapa art 

Sulieti and Tui sit down with Stuff’s Auckland Pasifika Affairs Reporter Torika Tokalau to share some insight into their upcoming exhibiton, Voyagers – The Niu World opening at Tautai Gallery soon!

“So to have it away from that traditional setting but still including it, and having it in a contemporary space – this is from the islands, from our ancestors – it’s saying that we belong up there too.“

Tui Emma Gillies

Read the full story here

For further information please email us
Tautai.org #tautai4lyfe