Tautai Gallery presents new exhibition Moana Waiwai, Moana Pāti opening 12 June

A new group exhibition curated by Nigel Borell presents a diverse range of work by nine Pacific artists.

IMAGE: Christopher Ulutupu, Saltbaths, 2021, (video still), from the series New Kid in Town, Commissioned by Cement Fondu Gallery, Sydney, Australia and funded by Creative New Zealand.

Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust presents Moana Waiwai, Moana Pāti, bringing together work developed by nine artists during the 2020-2021 Covid-19 lockdowns. The exhibition, curated by Nigel Borell, is on from Saturday 12 June until 25 September 2021.

Moana Waiwai, Moana Pāti, can be poetically translated to “from open seas to the shallow waters,” which Borell explains is a fitting metaphor for what has been an exceptional year worldwide.

“For the artists, the Covid-19 lockdowns brought about new opportunities to create and make. We’ve seen how adversity and innovation have gone hand-in-hand for many of them, and the work they have created is testament to the strength and creativity of artists,” says Borell.

Moana Waiwai, Moana Pāti includes work by Salvador Brown, Melissa Gilbert, Lyncia Müller, Tuāfale Tanoa’i AKA Linda T., Ashleigh Taupaki, Jasmine Tuiā, Christopher Ulutupu, Tyla Vaeau and Jaimie Waititi. The exhibition celebrates the diversity of Pacific creatives, and includes film, digital image-making, painting, tatau, poetic prose, sonic landscapes and performance.

All artists exhibiting in Moana Waiwai, Moana Pāti participated in Tautai’s Fale-ship programme, an initiative born out of the Covid-19 lockdowns to support artists working across a range of artistic disciplines to develop and make work at home. It is the first of two group exhibitions showcasing Tautai’s Fale-ship artists.

Tautai Director Courtney Sina Meredith says, “During the Covid-19 lockdowns, our priority was to support our artistic community to make, create and connect. The unique circumstances of isolation has impacted creative work in a number of ways. This year, our focus as an organisation is to redress the isolation of those lockdowns and work to bring our community back together, into our gallery space, to share work, talanoa and celebrate all that is Pacific creativity.”

Exhibition details:

Moana Waiwai, Moana Pāti
Exhibition Runs: Saturday 12 June – Saturday 25 September 2021

Tautai Gallery, Level 1, 300 Karangahape Road, Auckland Central
Open 10am–4pm, Tuesday–Friday, 11am – 4pm, Saturdays