Maketi Ples 2013

The third Maketi Ples was held from 20 February – 10 March 2013 at Global Gallery in Paddington, Sydney.

Maketi Ples – from the Samoan word for ‘market’ and the Tokpisin word for ‘place’ – is an exhibition and marketplace featuring the fine works of Pacific Island artists and artisans.

An initiative of Pacific Islands Trade & Invest, Maketi Ples has emerged as the most significant event in Australia showcasing and selling Pacific arts and crafts outside the islands region.

Giles Peterson, a curator on the selection panel for Maketi Ples, says the exhibition is attracting interest from across the globe.

“There is a lot of international interest in this exhibition as well, not just in Australia and New Zealand and the South Pacific, but further, into the United States and in Europe. Maketi Ples has now become a significant event on the cultural calendar internationally, raising a lot of international interest by curators working around the world in the area of contemporary Pacific arts.” ~ Giles Peterson

This year’s Maketi Ples featured 37 artists and artisan from the Cook Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and The Republic of the Marshall Islands.

Events such as Maketi Ples are a crucial step in the support of the creative arts in the Pacific region. By investing in the promotion of the Pacific arts, the Pacific Islands Trade & Invest is promoting the placement of a contemporary value on the traditional knowledge and expressions of culture of the Pacific communities. Since its inaugural show in 2011 Maketi Ples has introduced Pacific artists to the Australian art scene.

During Maketi Ples 2011, bilum-wear by Florence Jaukae Kamel was recognised as an important statement of gender empowerment by the Australian Museum and was acquired by the museum for its Pacific Collection. Later that year, the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in Brisbane acquired one of Jaukae Kamel’s bilum-wear. This dress was exhibited at the Threads: Contemporary Textiles & the Social Fabric at GOMA (1 October 2011 – 5 February 2012), another milestone acquisition for Jaukae Kamel by an Australian institution.

Florence Jaukae Kamel, Managing Director of Jaukae Bilum Products, is a well-respected Papua New Guinea bilum artist and founder of the Bilum Festival.  Jaukae Kamel has been at the forefront of the rapidly growing reinterpretation of the twist and loop technique into a contemporary art form – billum-wear.

Tongan Kato Kafa (basket) weaver and coconut fibre artist Sioni Maileseni’s Kato Kafa (2011) and Kato Alu (2012) were also acquired by the Australian Museum.

Highlights:

1. Tïvaevae from the Cook Islands by Mi’i Quarter 2. woven baskets from Marshall Islands 3. purses from the Ömie Artists Inc 4. Malo Marita and Plantation House

5. Setu-Masina- Alae, girclee print by Samoan artist Vanya Taule’alo 6. Florence Jaukae Kamel in front of bilim bags from Papua New Guinea 7. Sepik face, acrylic on paper by PNG artist Anna Kawage 8. wood and stone carvings by Ralph Ako, Solomon Islands

9. Purses from Plantation House 10. Tongan coconut fibre, rib & leaf fan by Sioni Maileseni 11. hand painted textiles by Franny Do’oro, Solomon Islands 12. Trobriand dancers, acrylic on canvas by PNG artist Martin Morububuna

13. Tongan artist Tevita Latu 14. Buldoza klirim bus lon LNG projek, acrylic on canvas by PNG artist Andrew Kauage 15. woven baskets from Marshall Islands 16. some of the artists on a trip to the Australian Museum

Family Day (23 February) : A family day was also organised at the gallery, where the artists and artisans spoke  about their art practice, the state of the art scene in their countries of origin and hopes and aspirations about their participation in Maketi Ples.

Among the artists that spoke were Lalovai Peseta, Vanya Taule’alo Gallery, Chris Kawage, Ralph Ako, Frances Do’oro, Mi’i Quarter, Tevita Pola’apau, Sione Maileseni, Stanley Pesaro and Florence Kamel.

Artists Florence Jaukae Kamel demonstrated Bilum making, while Sione Maileseni showed the visitors coconut fibre weaving.

Tattoo demonstrations/sessions by Samoan artist Lalovai Peseta were also held and due to popular demand, a third and last session was organised. Peseta tattooed Florence Jaukae Kamel on her right arm her signature design – Skin Pik, a weave pattern she uses in her bilum-wear colleciton. You can view the tattoo here.

Over the next three years, PT&I plan to extend the exposure of Pacific arts and crafts geographically with the possibility of hosting multiple events in a year at various locations in Australia and in other countries as well.

“So far it has been an extremely satisfying and rewarding experience for Pacific arts, artists and artisans. We would like to see more artists from the entire region benefit from it.” Caleb Jarvis, PT&I Australia Trade Commissioner

2013 Maketi Ples Artists and Artisans:

Cook Islands: Kay George; Mi’i Quarter

Fiji: Alifereti Malai; Abraham Lagi

Papua New Guinea: Jimmy Amamao (Annie’s Pottery); Malolo Prints; Florence J Kamel; Martin Morububuna; Laben Sakale John; Johannes Gulag; Chris Kauage; Kauage Family: Elisabeth, Andrew, Michael, Anna; Ömie Artists Inc; Agnes Posanai (Tarebo Arts); Stanley Pesero and James Kuri (Enga Cultural Centre)

Samoa: Plantation House; The Vanya Taule’alo Gallery – Vanya Taule’alo, Lalovai Peseta, Kili Luaipolu, Beau Rasmussen, Isabelle Staron-Tutugoro, Chuck Feesago, Fatu Feu’u, Jeff Lockhart, Wong Chiu Tuipoloa, Lily Loita

Solomon Islands: Franny Do’oro; Ralph Ako

Tonga: Sione Maileseni; Tevita Latu; Sione Tu’avao; Ti Pola’apau

The Republic of the Marshall Islands: Elefa Handicraft Shop

Maketi Ples 2013

20 February – 10 March 2013
Global Gallery, 5 Comber St, Paddington, NSW, Australia

Website:

Maketi Ples http://www.maketiples.com/ 

Pacific Islands Trade & Invest http://www.pitic.org.au/

Facebook:

Maketi Ples http://www.facebook.com/PlesMaketi Note: this is not a Facebook Page but a Profile page.

Pacific Islands Trade & Invest http://www.facebook.com/Pacific.Trade.Invest

Twitter: @MaketiPles

Photos available online of Maketi Ples:

PT&I website

PT&I Facebook Maketi Ples Photo Album

Vanya Taule’alo Gallery’s Facebook page have a few Photo Albums from Maketi Ples

Sources: Maketi Ples; Pacific Islands Trade & Invest; Samoan Observer; Ruth Choulai, Creative Arts Program Manager, PT&I. Images via PT&I and Maketi Ples websites and Facebook pages/profiles.

i spy {tapa}

I get excited when I see tapa in a non-Pacific setting. Does anyone play spot the tapa on TV? A few programs I’ve seen have tapa in the background and by a few I mean one but for the life of me I can’t remember which Australian show it was.

via Design Files.  Photo – Brooke Holm, Production – Lucy Feagins

Featured on Design Files, Kirsty Davey  has Fijian tapa hanging in her guest bedroom. She bought the tapa from Lost Ark, an antique store in Melbourne.

via euroform : kitchens + furniture

And how stirking is this Tongan tapa that is used as side panel for this kitchen island. The timber work top was sourced from the Pacific Islands too.

More i spy {tapa} here.

Since I’ve been gone…

Twenty-twelve just wasn’t my blogging year…actually much of 2012 was just a write-off.

• It was my dad’s 30th anniversary since his death
• My mum was in hospital for a month where she spent 3 weeks in intensive care
• I was torn between two lovers *cue music*…feeling like a fool…(sing along with me now)…
• Was bored of my job/life – quit my job after thinking about it for 3 days with the intent of moving to Melbourne but ended up staying in Brisbane and moving to another department in the same organisation I worked for

On the upside I was in Fiji three times last year.

Lots has happened out there in Oceania or should I say Oceania in diaspora – I hardly come across information about the arts happening in the Islands. Maybe I stalk  I’m friends with the wrong people.

Here are just a few events that has happened since I’ve been gone…

The 7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT7) opened in December at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) and Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) here in Brisbane. I didn’t get a chance to go to the opening as I was busy that weekend.  It ends 14 April so I have a bit of time to see it.

Pacific artists featured: Sopolemalama Filipe TOHI (Tonga/New Zealand) | {disarmed} imagining a Pacific archive: Torika BOLATAGICI (Australia/Fiji), Mathew HUNKIN (New Zealand/Samoa), Teresia TEAIWA (United States of America/Kiribati/New Zealand) | Graham FLETCHER (New Zealand/Samoa) | Asmat artists: Ben AFEX; Amatus AHMAK; Antonin ARKE; Primus ISIMIN; Stefanus JAKFU; Norbertus JOKOMEN; Paulis KOMARE; Paulis POKMAN; Yakobus SERAMBI; Dinisius SIRETS (West Papua, Indonesia) | Greg SEMU (New Zealand/Samoa) and from Papua New Guinea two co-curated projects explore specific focuses. Works from Papua New Guinea include a group of performance masks and painted and carved structures from New Britain and the Sepik.

the other APT 2012 – an online exhibition of alterNATIVE perspectives curated by Jenny Fraser. Coinciding with and responding to the state government-run 7th Asia Pacific Triennial in Queensland, the other APT  features a range of artworks from Australian-based artists of various cultural backgrounds and art forms. Check it out here the Facebook Event page here.

Masi, which premiered in Wellington at the New Zealand International Arts Festival last March was shown in Fiji (December 2012) and at the Sydney Festival 2013 (January 2013). Directed by Nina Nawalowalo, Masi tells a touching love story between her parents – a Fijian high chief from the island of Kadavu and the daughter of Cambridge-educated schoolmasters in the 1950s.

“Nawalowalo blends physical theatre, magic, live music and a muscular ensemble of traditional Fijian dancers to tell the story of her parents’ romance, which began over a game of chess”. ~ Lloyd Bradford Syke

Concealed Ancestors  (12 January – 23 February 2013) was a solo exhibition by Waikato-based Fijian-Maori visual artist, Margaret Aull, co-curated by Nigel Borell and Ema Tavola for Papakura Art Gallery, South Auckland. Produced as part of Margaret’s post-graduate studies, the work is an in-depth visual enquiry into the concept of tapu / tabu or sacredness informed in part by a recent trip to Fiji and time spent at the Fiji Museum.

Whakapapa transfer station | Margaret Aull | Acrylic, graphite, ink, 24-carat gold leaf on paper

In May last year Fiji’s international carrier, Air Pacific announced its rebranding, which included a name change to Fiji Airways, and a distinctive new logo that highlights the companies Fijian roots. Air Pacific commissioned Fijian masi artist, Makereta Matemosi to design the new logo.

Fiji Airways 15 motifs to be trade marked

Fast forward to January 2013 when Air Pacific publishes its intentions to trade mark 15 individual masi motifs used in its new logo.

There was a public outcry over this on Facebook (the new platform for public outcry). A Facebook page was created by a concerned group of people NA NODA MASI – Do not TM our cultural heritage, as well as an online petition.

The online petition is still open, please sign and share.

More info: NA NODA MASI – Do not TM our cultural heritage Facebook page; Cultural identity by Tevita Vuibau. Fiji Times; Appropriation (?) of the Month: Fiji Masi for Air Pacific or for Everyone? by Kristen Dobbin.

2013

I hope to feature more of Urban Viti blog series: interviews {Talaona}, DIY’s {Tovolea mada}, style features {vale ni style}, cultural appropriation and (my) geometric obsessions {kerei}, as well as regular updates on exhibitions and such.

Hopefully I’ll be blogging more this year and making art…one can only dream *sigh*.

Don’t forget to check out Urban Viti on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Urban.Viti

Post-script: It took me three hours to write this post! Which made me realise the main reason why I haven’t been blogging – the lack of a personal computer! My laptop died on me some time in 2011…two years on and I haven’t been able to afford a replacement.

I’ve been spending my money on travelling – 2011 I travelled three times interstate and three times as well to Auckland and once to Fiji. In 2012 I went twice to Auckland and three times to Fiji!

This year I plan only to do two international flights – Fiji at the end of the year and to Europe to see my love <<< Yes, I’m no longer torn between two lovers.

So I think it’s about time I spoilt myself and bought a new laptop.

Image sources: Concealed Ancestors via PIMPI ; Fiji Airways logo via NA NODA MASI – Do not TM our cultural heritage

pan-o-vision // Samuel Tupou

pan-o-vision v.3 | Samuel Tupou
silkscreen on high densitiy PVC 40cm round | 2012

Samuel Tupou is an undercover brotha. I consider my s̶t̶a̶l̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ research skills to be top notch when it comes to Pacific artists, exhibitions etc., so I was rather surprised to come across this article in the Brisbane News magazine about his exhibition in my own city!

I hadn’t heard about the exhibition via my normal sources (emails, Facebook, Twitter, blogs), so I’m rather happy that I did get to read the Brisbane News that someone left in my lunch room at work.

I had a twitter discussion with Ema Tavola back in February about Samuel Tupou and she did say that, while he was well known in Australia and the international art scene – he was rather low key within the Pacific art community.

I first came across Tupou’s work by chance. In 2007 I was on a bus that went pass the Jan Manton Art Gallery in South Brisbane. From the bus I could see glimpses of artwork in the gallery and I thought to myself…that looks like Pacific art. I made an effort later that week to go back and check it out and I’m glad I did.

Samuel Tupou is a Cairns based artist with a specialty in screenprinting. Born in New Zealand and of Tongan heritage, Tupou’s family moved to the Northern Territory when he was five.

The works in the pan-o-vision exhibition were made whilst Tuopu was on a 12 month residency in Wellington (New Zealand), which he felt was a time to get fresh prespective after living and working in Cairns for 12 years.

He says, “Although I often returned to visit family in New Zealand, the country remains for me a place of both identity and intrigue”. This would be the same for the many Pacific Islanders who live in Australia that are twice removed from their traditional fonua/whenua /vanua/fenua (land which one identifies with) – having come to Australia via New Zealand. So for many, New Zealand links them to their Pacific heritage.

Tupou’s urban environment and Pacific heritage influences his work with the use of geometric lines and repetitive patterns with animal and plant motifs which pay homage to Tongan tapa, mixed in with street art and pop cultural symbolism.

“Tupou’s practice reflects contemporary dilemmas of cultural identity, Westernization and immigration. Through the re-invention and repetition of found imagery from Western popular culture, and the use of industrial materials, Tupou creates new narratives which portray both personal and shared histories.” ~ Jan Manton Art 

Fire child | Samuel Tupou | silkscreen on high densitiy PVC 80 x 120 cm | 2012

twin moon rising  | Samuel Tupou | silkscreen on high densitiy PVC 55 x 120 cm | 2011

Fire Horse | Samuel Tupou | silkscreen on high densitiy PVC 80 x 120 cm | 2012

pan-o-vision v.l – pan-o-vision v.12 | Samuel Tupou | silkscreen on high densitiy PVC 40cm round | 2012

Excuse my dodgy iPhone photos. You can check out more of Tupou’s works from this exhibition over at Jan Manton Art gallery website here, along with other works of his from 2007 and 2008 exhibitions at Jan Manton Art.

My favourite from this exhibition would have to pan-o-vision v.1 – v.12. I’m loving the hyper pop colour spectrum with its wallpaper background that reminds me of colourful Pacific lavalavas (sarongs). The 1950s pop art nostalgia reflects the Wests romanticised vision of the Pacific back in the 1950s and 60s – think Elvis Presley and Blue Hawaii.

The use of urban motifs – shopping cart, airplanes etc. and of traditional and contemporary Pacific motifs  - horses (he is Tongan…), cows, fire etc., Tupou creates a new narrative which portrays the life of a Pacific Islander in diaspora.

Jan Manton Art

1/93 Fortescue Street, Spring Hill, Brsibane, Australia

28 March – 21 April 2012.

Gallery hours are Wednesday to Friday by appointment and 10-4pm Saturday (no appointment necessary).  To make an appointment please call the gallery on 07 3837 3060 or mobile 0419 657 768.

http://janmantonart.com/

Links:

Samuel Tupou’s website

pan-o-vision exhibition on Jan Manton Art website

Screen prince by Phil Brown. Brisbane News, April 2012.

Maketi Ples 2012

Maketi Ples – from the Samoan word for ‘market’ and the Tokpisin word for ‘place’ – is an exhibition and marketplace featuring the fine works of Pacific Islands artists and artisans.

Hosted by Pacific Islands Trade & Invest, Maketi Ples opens 22 February at the Global Gallery in Paddington, Sydney (Australia).

The opening exhibition will feature contemporary Pacific islands fine art and artisan works in a variety of mediums from the Cook Islands,  Federated State of Micronesia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands,  and Tonga.

Some of the artists featured:

Agnes Posanai-Tarebo from Papua New Guinea
with tapa Cloth and tapa products

Visual artist Kay George from the Cook Islands

Bilum weaver extraordinaire, Florence Jaukae Kamel from Papua New Guinea

Head over to the Maketi Ples website (http://www.maketiples.com/) and check out the other artists/artisans. They also have a Facebook Event Page here.

 23 February-11 March 2012
Global Gallery, 5 Comber St, Paddington, NSW, Australia

Open from 10am – 6pm.

Special Events :

Wednesday, 22 February 2012.  6 – 8 pm
Preview Event & Opening of Maketi Ples 2012

Thursday, 23 February 2012. 6 – 8 pm
Private Function – Women Chiefs of Enterprise International and launch of Statement Journeys

Saturday, 25 February 2012. 1pm– 4 pm          
Artists Talks :
Kay George – Visual Artist, Cook Islands
John Maileseni – Weaver, Kingdom of Tonga
Tessa Miller – Visual Artist, Fiji Islands
Martin Morububuna – Visual Artist, Papua New Guinea (tbc)
Peter Leo Ella – Visual Artist, Papua New Guinea (tbc)
Festival of Pacific Arts – Solomon Islands artists (tbc)

Maketi Ples 2011

Source and images via Maketi Ples

I spy : Tapa

My ninja eyes spotted this framed Fijian tapa in the March/April 2011 issue of Inside Out magazine.

March/April 2011 issue of Inside Out magazine. Image via Table Tonic

I love how the framed tapa complements the 60′s sideboard.

However, Inside Out’s choice of words leaves a bad taste in my mouth -  “…while framed tapa clothes add a tribal element…”.

Can we please lose the tribal label already.

Here’s another framed Fijian tapa, which goes well with the stricking tyn (juju hat) from Camaroon. Although I’d lose the wire basket.

Image via Table Tonic

I especially love this Tongan framed tapa. I love how it looks creased and incomplete…cut and torn…it tells a story.

Tongan tapa in white frame. Image via Design Sponge

It’s not hard to miss this huge tapa at the appropriately named Tapa Room at The Providores resturant in London. Note: if you’re in London, don’t rush out now to the Tapa Room…they sadly don’t have a Pacific menu.

Image via Chow and The City

They mistakenly call it a “Rarotongan Tapa”. It looks like Tongan tapa to me. Tapa making in the Cook Islands stopped in the early 1900s, however the last few years have seen a small scale revival.

How do you display your tapa?

This Papua New Guinean blogger from Sea, Sand and Shells framed these beautiful PNG tapas. She currently lives in Kazakhstan, so hanging them on her wall reminds her of home.

The tapa is from her husbands clan. In PNG, each clan/family have their own designs and motifs.

Image via Sea, Sand and Shells

A family friend gave me this Fijian tapa that’s framed on canvas frames. It currently leans against a wall my the sitting room.

I’ve been meaning to hang it above my bed but three years later I still haven’t hang it…and I’m moving soon. So hopefully I’ll get to hang it up in my new place.

Photo by Dulcie Stewart

Self-portraits in front of my framed tapa.

Speaking of displaying tapa, the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMa) here in Brisbane recently blogged about the installation of the beautiful Tongan tapa, Ngatu tā’uli, which is part of the Threads: Contemporary Textiles and the Social Fabric exhibition. 

The Kulupu Falehanga ‘i Teleiloa – a  New Zealand Tonga art based group, made the 22 metre long Tongan ngatu tā’uli which was commisioned by GoMa. I posted photos by Sangeeta Singh, from the handing over ceremony in Auckland here.

Read GoMa’s blog post about the conservation treatment of the ngatu tā’uli here and installation here.

Kulupu Falehanga ‘i Teleiloa | New Zealand/Tonga; est. 2010 | Ngatu tā’uli 2011 | Barkcloth: hiapo (paper mulberry) with koka pigment and black synthetic polymer paint | Commissioned 2011. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation | Collection: Queensland Art Gallery. Photo by Dulcie Stewart.

The Threads: Contemporary Textiles and the Social Fabric exhibition ends 5 February, 2012 and also includes works by artists from Papua New Guinea, Fiji and the Cook Islands.

I took photos last November at the exhibition and will post them here soon.

I’d love to hear how you display/keep your tapa. Please comment here or send me an email (with photos) to urbanviti@gmail.com

Photos from the handing over of the Ngatu tā’uli

The Queensland Art Gallery commissioned a significant 22 metre long Tongan ngatu tā’uli (black barkcloth) as one of several major new collection acquisitions to mark the 5th anniversary of the opening of the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMa).

Last week Friday, the Kulupu Falehanga ‘i Teleiloa – a  New Zealand Tonga art based group, presented the ngatu tā’uli at the Mangere Arts Centre in South Auckland, to representatives of the Queensland Art Gallery, which included the Gallery’s Director Tony Ellwood and the Queensland Government’s Minister for The Arts, Rachel Nolan MP.

The commission acknowledges the importance of ngatu ta’uli as a creative process and an artwork of great significance.

The spectacular bark cloth has been created by the Kulupu Falehanga ‘i Teleiloa, in collaboration with a women’s art group from Tatakamotonga, Tonga.

Some of the members from the Kulupu Falehanga ‘i Teleiloa group

There are two main types of Tongan ngatu – ngatu tahini (white-marked barkcloth) and ngatu tā’uli (black-marked barkcloth). Ngatu tā’uli are regarded as ‘female’.

The ngatu tā’uli are considered more chiefly and therefore reserved for the use of Tongan royalty and aristocracy, especially for funeral rites.

The completion of the Queensland Art Gallery ngatu tā’uli coincided with the death of the father-in-law of one of the group‟s members, the late Tēvita Tofavaha Tuai.

He passed away on 3 June 2011 and was distantly related to the aristocracy of the now uninhabited island of ‘Ata, Tonga. The ngatu tā’uli was used in Tēvita’s funeral ceremony as one of five ngatu folded to create a toka’anga (platform) on which the casket was placed. The casket lay on the ngatu platform for two days and two nights.

Completed in around three months, the ngatu tā’uli was made using a combination of both old and new materials and techniques.

There are four main kupesi (designs) featured in the work. They include fakafo’ihea (hea fruits), amoamokofe (caressing bamboo), muimoa (chicken tail) and vakatou (double-hulled canoe). The designs are abstractions of the male and female reproductive organs, the bamboo healing device, the chicken tail and double-hulled canoe, respectively.

Details of ngatu tā’uli

The ngatu tā’uli will command the centre of the Threads: Contemporary Textiles & the Social Fabric exhibition space which starts next month at GoMa in Brisbane (Australia) . The exhibition will feature more than 30 other examples of contemporary textiles ranging from batiks, bags and bark-cloths to quilts and garments.

Malo ‘aupito and Vinaka vaka levu to Kolokesa Māhina-Tuai for information about the commission of the ngatu tā’uli, Sangeeta Singh for the photographs and Luisa Tora for being Pinky.

Links:

More photographs from handing over by Sangeeta Singh on Flickr

Urban Viti blog post: Falehanga ‘i Teleiloa presesnts a Ngatu tā’uli to the Queensland Art Gallery

Queensland Art Gallery and the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMa)

Threads: Contemporary Textiles & the Social Fabric exhibition at GoMa, 1 October 2011 – 5 February 2012.