Farewell to Tautai Director, Courtney Sina Meredith

Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust would like to thank
Director, Courtney Sina Meredith for her tremendous mahi and service to our
Te-Moana-Nui-A-Kiwa artists and community.

Tautua nei mo sou manuia a taeao
– Serve now for a better tomorrow

A heartwarming message from Courtney

It is with a heavy heart that I announce my resignation as Director of Tautai.  

When I think of the arts, our arts, I think of family first.  

I think of how hard the parents and loved ones of the artists who sit across from me around tables of change have had to work for their children to follow their dreams. I know this to be true because I am one of those children.  

I started my life in a three-generational home in Glen Innes surrounded by alofa. My understanding of the sacrifices necessary to achieve a great vision is informed by my lived experience of being raised by a brilliant single mother who carved out, with her bare hands, a place for me in this world. My leadership at Tautai has been grounded in aiga, hard work, and the relentless spirit of the navigator to believe in and to realise a niu horizon.  

When I put myself forward for this role I did so in honour of two key artists in my life, Jim Vivieaere and Danielle Akenese Meredith. These two creative leaders connected me intrinsically to Tautai. Uncle Jim who shared his fears for the future of Tautai with me in our very last talanoa and Dani who as a shining young artist did not have a positive experience with the Trust. I was determined to heal these wounds and to ensure the future survival of Tautai, for those who need her most.  

I leave Tautai having increased funding by 94%, with a doubled team of inspirational leaders, in a thrice expanded premises that includes a brand new gallery, in the heart of Aukilani, all with the blessing of Tautai’s founding patron Fatu Feu’u. My enduring loving thanks to the Creative New Zealand fanau who have supported my Directorship with compassion and respect. Once a satellite, Tautai is now where she rightfully belongs, within the top ten CNZ arts organisations in Aotearoa, a source of creative inspiration for many, the home of Moana arts.  

I would not have been able to pour my life force into Tautai had it not been for the team I have been so privileged to learn from and to lead alongside. We built this fale together and I acknowledge you with great respect Danielle Akenese Meredith, Zoe Lewis, Gloriana Meyers, Sam McKegg and Mile Fane. I thank your families for their time and energy too.  

I acknowledge the full board’s many contributions to Tautai over the years and I am especially thankful to William Somerville, John Gandy and Josie McNaught. I thank the excellent wider team especially NO SIX, our accountant Gary Nuttall, our head technician Oleg Polounine, installers, Ngaue ‘ofa volunteers - you have all given mightily. I thank my entire family - my loving guiding parents, aunties and uncles, my brothers and many cousins who have volunteered at every event. To Janet and our sons, thank you for being my everyday inspiration to serve our people with alofa and integrity. It is because of you and your love that my heart can stretch around the moon.  

I leave Tautai in the capable and excellent hands of not one but three new interim Directors: Danielle Akenese Meredith, Mile Fane and Gloriana Meyers. My heartfelt congratulations to each of you. To be able to transition the vaka smoothly from one navigator to many is the crowning jewel of this journey. I leave with a full cup, knowing I have honoured my purpose here, with the support of an exquisitely gifted community. Our stories are important, they must be told - by us. We will make our own decisions, we will carry each other over mountains, we will lead with love. 

It has been an absolute honour to serve my community. My message to my peers is to keep stepping up, even if you are afraid, even if you doubt your abilities - lean on your blood, connect to our histories, and remember who you are.  

 ‘A mother rock in the ocean the waves will crash against Tautai,  

the sun will beat, the birds will circle, and the tide will pull,  

she will be found over and over again by new voyagers,  

brave enough to cut a path across the deep Moana’ 

-Courtney Sina Meredith 

Tautai Director 2018 - 2022