Save the Date | Talanoa Forum: Swimming Against the Tide

Yuki Kihara, Genesis 9:16 (After Gauguin), Part of Paradise Camp series (2020/2022) presented at 59th La Biennale di Venezia. Courtesy of Yuki Kihara and Milford Galleries, Aotearoa New Zealand.

As an extension of the critically acclaimed exhibition Paradise Camp presented at the New Zealand Pavilion curated by Natalie King as part of the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, artist Yuki Kihara has organized the Talanoa Forum in her role as artistic director in close partnership with Natalie King (University of Melbourne), Francesca Tarocco (NICHE, Ca' Foscari University of Venice), Cristina Baldacci (Ca' Foscari University of Venice), Wonu Veys & Erna Lilje (National Museum of World Cultures, The Netherlands).

Talanoa is a pan-Pacific word that describes a process of inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue. Using talanoa as a point of conceptual departure, Talanoa forum is an artist-led gathering that aggregates artists, curators, scholars, activists, community leaders and policymakers to extend the themes from Paradise Camp into a series of critical talanoa/conversations under the entitled Swimming Against the Tide lifted from a quote by the late Māori New Zealand filmmaker Merata Mita, whose work explored the political tensions in Aotearoa New Zealand during the 1970s and the 80s which brought issues such as Indigenous sovereignty and gender equality to the fore. Mitaʻs words orient the talanoa to explore how localized strategies including art, activism and policy are being developed to address the global concerns of our times.

Talanoa forum is a hybrid format with online talanoa presented in September and inperson talanoa in October 2022 presented in Venice, Italy (11/12/13 Oct) and Leiden/Amsterdam, the Netherlands (15-19 Oct). Further details to be announced soon.

We are pleased to announce Emeritus Professor Ngahuia Te Awekotuku of Aotearoa New Zealand as our chief orator and keynote speaker for the Talanoa Forum in Venice and Leiden.

The Talanoa Forum is presented in partnership and with the support of the Ministry of Pacific Peoples of the Government of New Zealand, CoVA Centre of Visual Art at the University of Melbourne, THE NEW INSTITUTE Centre for Environmental Humanities at Ca 'Foscari University of Venice (NICHE) and the National Museum of World Cultures in The Netherlands.

The outcome of the Talanoa Forum will be a publication which highlights the talanoa over Venice and Leiden/Amsterdam.

Source: Press Release from THE NEW INSTITUTE Centre for Environmental Humanities Ca 'Foscari University of Venice (NICHE)