As part of the Oceanic Visions / Moana te kite preview event, The Showroom will host a panel discussion bringing together Pacific artists and knowledge holders. The panellists will share perspectives on working towards a socially and environmentally sustainable future in light of a political context that threatens the land and the ocean.
Chaired by Lyall Hakaraia (Aotearoa/NZ-UK), and with the participation of Oe Arefasu (Papua New Guinea-UK), Lau Batty (Tuvalu-UK) and John Pule (Niue, Aotearoa/NZ) [online].
The conversation will address how Oceanic ancestral knowledge, art and activism can provide pathways to cultivating a respectful relationship with the land based on the principles of restoration and care.
Speakers
In-person
Oe Arefasu is originally from Ofasa Village in Pukari, Papua New Guinea. She moved to England in 1977 and worked as a farmer for many years. Arefasu is a member of a Papua New Guinean women dancers’ collective that performs at public events celebrating Oceanic heritage in the UK.
Lyall Hakaraia is a London-based fashion designer, stylist, and creative director. Of Māori descent and originally from Kororareka (Russell), Aotearoa, NZ, Hakaraia has been influential across several industries, building and nurturing fashion, LGBQT, QTIPOC and Pacific communities and collectives. Their artistic output ranges from opening the VFD (formerly Vogue Fabrics) to designing for Madonna and Lady Gaga. Hakaraia is a founding Member of the Interis*land Collective, a tangata Moana (Pacific, Oceanic people), queer-led arts/creative/activist group based in London, UK and Aotearoa.
Lau Batty is a writer, director and creative facilitator of Tuvaluan-British heritage, based in Bristol. Her work focuses on social and political injustice and is a space to explore identity and anti-colonial storytelling. As an Associate Artist for Beyond Face, she is currently developing her play - How To Grieve Correctly In A Tuvaluan Household With Other Oceanic References - connecting with Pasifika women, femmes and fa’afafine to tell their stories.
Online
John Pule, ONZM is a performance poet and artist, and is largely self -taught, leading a double career as a visual artist and writer. Born in the village of Liku on the small South Pacific island of Niue, his family moved to New Zealand in 1964. Growing up in Auckland, Pule, one of the Pacific’s most significant artists, has been widely celebrated at the forefront of New Zealand contemporary art since the 1990s. Continually returning to Niue as an adult, Pule finds inspiration in his home country’s history, spirituality, and migration experience. His works depict the natural world in lyrical embrace with humans as a personal approach to world-building. Through his visual and literary works, Pule deliberately amplifies the voice of Pacific cultures and the history of colonisation and migration.
