The first Kava Circle to be held in Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki was a fitting end to the Tautai Tertiary Art Day on 21 July.  Artist and Tautai trustee Siliga David Setoga officiated and was assisted by Nastashia Simeona Apelu in this ceremony which was held in the wonderful formality of the Lower Grey Gallery.  Art students from AUT, Unitec, Elam, Whitecliffe and MSVA spent the day together first visiting the annual Tautai tertiary exhibition (This Must Be The Place at St Paul St gallery), and then enjoying Yum Cha lunch before going to see Home AKL as guests of the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki.

Artists Jeremy Leatinu’u, Lonnie Hutchinson and Ioane Ioane (who all have work in Home AKL) joined Siliga in hosting the students. Discussion and kava flowed. A perfect way to spend some time together, talk, laugh and solve the problems of the world – and enjoy the company.

Thursday 2 August 6-8pm (part of First Thursdays).

Meet the rangatahi and artists behind The Sole Project Exhibition 2012 as they discuss the process of their collaboration and give you a tour of the exhibition at ArtStation on Ponsonby Rd.

FEATURING // South and Central Auckland Alternative Education rangatahi // Tom Fuataga, Kahurangi Manuel, Stephanie Marsh, Natasha Melrose, Wauki Paniani, Jodeci Pomana, Joseph Silipa, Joseph Vainui, Ase Vakatawa and Eroni Vesikula.

ARTISTS-MENTORS // Otis Frizzell, Darryl Thompson (DLT), Dan Tippett, Rongotai Lomas, Shona Tawhiao, Josh Paki, Cerisse Palalagi, Chris Ryan, Salome Tanuvasa, and Cora-Allen Wickliffe.

NGA RANGATAHI TOA CREATIVE ARTS INITIATIVE // providing transformational life experiences for rangatahi through one-to-one mentoring in creative arts.

Sarah Longbottom, Creative Director sarah@ngarangatahitoa.co.nz

Mangere Arts Centre are opening two exhibitions on Friday 3 August. Ioane Ioane, I will sea you in Hawaiki and Tolu Lima, Kas Futialo, Courtney Sina Meredith and Siliga David Setoga. The opening night will also encompass a one-off performance by Ioane Ioane and guests.

‘Tolu Lima’ – Kas Futialo, Courtney Sina Meredith and Siliga David Setoga
This exhibition brings together three artists of Samoan descent to collaborate on an exhibition. Coming from diverse backgrounds in fine art, music and poetry the artists are responding to ideas around language and tatau for this open ended exhibition. Tolu Lima translates from Samoan as three hands.

I will sea you in Hawaiki
A Samoan born artist, Ioane’s multidisciplinary practice involves sculpture, installation and performance. I will sea you in Hawaiki pays tribute to Ioane’s deceased son, Keoni Ioane. In this work Ioane invokes the mysterious and mythical place of Hawaiki and reflects upon both the journey and the possibility of being reunited with his son. Throughout the  Pacific there is a geographically based point of departure, a space of journey into in the spiritual realm, a place from which we are born, and to where we go after we die.

Levaquin

A Free Bus service from Mangere to Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki will operate every Saturday in August. The bus service is provided to visitors of the Gallery thanks to the generosity of long-time Gallery supporters, the Chartwell Trust.

‘The Chartwell Trust has created an excellent opportunity for people in South Auckland to experience one of their city’s greatest attractions and to visit Home AKL – a truly unique exhibition of Auckland’s Pacific art that many will enjoy,’ says Regional Facilities Auckland (RFA) chairman, Sir Don McKinnon.

‘Increasing access to the arts is an important part of the Chartwell Trust philosophy,’ says Sue Gardiner, Chartwell Trust spokesperson. ‘It’s a pleasure to be able to provide this bus service and help bring people to the Gallery to enjoy the Home AKL exhibition.’ Ema Tavola, formerly of Fresh Gallery Otara and one of the Associate Curators of Home AKL, will join passengers on the first bus from Mangere Arts Centre to Auckland Art Gallery on Saturday 4 August.

‘The Free Bus service gives people the freedom to enjoy Home AKL and the Gallery as a whole, without having to watch the clock on parking meters or worry about the cost or hassle of driving,’ says Tavola. ‘The Chartwell Trust has really hit home with this very generous offer and I hope people will take this chance to enjoy a trip downtown to soak up the city’s art and culture.’

Buses will leave from Mangere Arts Centre Nga Tohu o Uenuku at 12pm. Return trips depart from Auckland Art Gallery at 3pm.

- The Free Bus service will run every Saturday in August – 4, 11, 18, 25
- 12pm DEPARTURE from Mangere Arts Centre – Nga Tohu o Uenuku, Corner Bader Drive and Orly Avenue, Mangere
- 3pm RETURN from Auckland Art Gallery to Mangere
- Entry to the bus will be on a ‘first on, first served’ basis – prior bookings are not available
- Entry to the Auckland Art Gallery is free

-Home AKL Admission:
- Adult – $5
- Friends & Concessions – $3 each
- 14 years and under – free
- Season pass $20

A collection of inspirational profiles of achievers who have Niuean ancestry.

It includes legends like Niuean hitman Laufoli and creative problem solver Mataginifale; historical figures like Sir Robert Rex (first Premier); and the life stories of contemporary achievers like Che Fu, Pero Cameron and Stephanie Tauevihi. Written by David Riley a teacher at Tangaroa College in Otara, South Auckland.

Illustrated by Munro Te Whata a Niue-Maori artist, photographs by Samoan photographer Evotia Tamua.

The book is published by Little Island Press and can be bought through Whitcoulls or at littleisland.co.nz.

For more info and to read sample chapters, check out David’s blog.

The wintery school holidays of 2012 have come to a close, and the Auckland Tautai Fresh Horizons Workshop has wrapped for this year and by all reports it looks to have been a great success. The Fresh Horizon workshops are run for high school students by Tautai who has been running them since 2001. Originally, the courses ran twice a year for one day and now they run for three days four times a year.

The Fresh Horizons workshops are not ‘art classes’ but opportunities for students to experiment, try new art related ideas and hone their talents. Tertiary institutions have come to recognise the value in hosting Tautai’s Fresh Horizons workshops and the institutions have now become regular and supporters. In July 2012 it was the Media Design School in Auckland central who took the opportunity to host the workshops. Eighteen secondary students from across Auckland embarked on a three day journey of discovery at MDS.

This particular workshop for Auckland Fresh Horizons 2012 was run slightly differently this time. It has been the practice of the Fresh Horizons workshops to engage established artists of Pacific heritage as a tutors, this way the children get to meet and learn at first hand about those artists practices. By putting known artists in as tutors, backed up by senior tertiary students as assistants, Tautai gives the secondary students visible role models – people they can relate to who are successful.

This workshop was slightly different with tutors from The Media Design School acting as tutors and taking the students through some of the more specialised equipment that is on hand at MDS. Considering that the aim is to give the students a stimulating art experience under the eye of positive, enthusiastic role models, and reinforce the value of continued education, this can be called another success.

AFS Pasifika Scholarship is offered to Pacific Island student to take up the challenge to live and study overseas. The Scholarship is valued at $7,500 for a year or semester programme.  The closing date for applications is 30 August 2012. Click here for more information.

Fulbright New Zealand calls for applications to its range of Scholar Awards for New Zealand academics, artists and professionals to undertake academic and cultural exchanges to the United States of America. A Fulbright exchange provides life-changing opportunities to gain international experience and advance your career, to explore America, to share your culture and to make friends and colleagues from around the world.  Click here to find out more. Check the website for application closing dates.

There is a wintery stillness beauty about the AUT University St Paul Street Gallery buildings. It is almost 1pm and people are arriving to hear an artists talk.

In the wing of the gallery the emerging artists Louisa Afoa, Cordelle Feau, Anita Jacobsen, Alana Lopesi, Limi Manu, Chris Ryan, Talia Smith, Salome Tanuvasa, Aaron Unasa and Cora-Allan Wickliffe begin to discuss their work to the attentive crowd.

The artists and crowd are lucky, senior artist Shigeyuki Kihara is in attendance. She is here specifically to hear the artists talk about their work and she is able to provide the students with insights that only come from experience.

This Must Be The Place is the fifth annual Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust tertiary exhibition. This year it is curated by the young and talented Jeremy Leatinu’u. Jeremy himself exhibited in the 2009 tertiary exhibition Don’t Pacify Me. Each year a young artist/curator is offered the opportunity to curate this exhibition as a way of trying to attract more pacific curators into curatorial roles.

The exhibition is only one part of the professional development that the ten young artists receive. Earlier in the day a closed critique session with art writer Mark Amery and artist Graham Fletcher was held within the university gallery. The exhibition project also offers the student/artists the opportunity to make connections with their peers attending different tertiary institutions and to expand on their networks.

As a reflection of place and time, This Must Be The Place presents a very firm awareness of location and identity within the Pacific.