Tautai is delighted to announce that an exhibition of contemporary pacific art is confirmed to open at the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts in Taiwan on 13 December 2008 and will run through until 5 April 2009.

Titled Le Folauga, the past coming forward, this very successful exhibition was curated for Tautai by two of our Trustees, Ron Brownson, Senior Curator New Zealand and Pacific at Auckland Art Gallery and Fulimalo Pereira, Curator – Pacific at the Auckland Museum. The exhibition which received both public and critical acclaim was held at the Auckland Museum during March and April 2007.

Tautai has been working with the KMFA since April this year in order to successfully bring this project to fruition. It is also an added pleasure to be working with the KMFA who already have an established record of engagement with art and artists from the pacific. It is notable that Le Folauga will be the first contemporary Pacific art exhibition from Aotearoa/New Zealand to be shown in a major Asian fine arts museum and Tautai is very pleased to have this opportunity to profile contemporary Pacific artists so comprehensively.

The exhibition which has been reconfigured and expanded from the original, will feature sixteen key contemporary pacific artists, they are: Edith Amituanai, Leanne Clayton, Fatu Feu’u, Steven Gwaliasi, Niki Hastings McFall, Lonnie Hutchinson, Leilani Kake, Shigeyuki Kihara, Andy Leleisi’uao, Janet Lilo, Itiri Ngaro, Ani O’Neill, Johnny Penisula, Filipe Tohi, Michel Tuffery and Jim Vivieaere.

Ron Brownson and Ani O’Neill will travel to Kaohsiung for the opening of the exhibition as guests of the KMFA.  While there they will take part in public program events for the exhibition which will include Ron delivering a key note address on contemporary pacific art.

A web based catalogue for the new exhibition will be produced which will be added to the existing site www.lefolauga.co.nz . The KMFA have also indicated that they intend to produce a hard copy catalogue to accompany the show.
For further information please contact:
Christina Jeffery, Manager,
Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust
manager@tautai.co.nz

Congratulations to this year’s Visual Arts recipients of the Creative New Zealand Pacific Arts Awards:
Leilani Kake (Cook Island/ Rakahanga and Ngapuhi) recipient of the Salamander Gallery Award for Emerging Pacific Visual Artists and Linda Tuafale Tanoa’i (Samoa) recipient of the Emerging Pacific Artists’ Award

Also congratulations to:
Dianna Fuemana (Niue/ Amerika Samoa) Award for Innovation and Excellence
James Ioelu (Samoa) Iosefa Enari Memorial Award
Igelese Ete (Samoa) Senior Pacific Artist Award
Enuamanu Atiu Nui Marurua Society Inc (Cook Islands) Pacific Heritage Arts Award

Entries for the Fieldays No 8 Wire National Art Award 2009 are now open. Entries close 17 April 09