| Business |
Pacific art show dazzles US audience
By JULIE MOTA-KUMIN
The year's visual arts and crafts
calendar for a number of PNG artists opened with the overwhelming
reception and success of a joint Pacific islands contemporary arts
show in the United States titled: "Islands Affinities".
The exhibition held at the Art Galleries, California State
University focuses on painting, installation, photography and
video art by artists of Oceania, who explore issues of identity,
memory and place through formal and conceptual affinities to
Samoan, Tongan, Hawaiian and Papua New Guinean culture.
PNG artists whose work are in the show are Larry Santana, Daniel
Waswas, Jane Wena and Julie Mota-Kumin.
An exceptionally Pacific islands professionally executed art show
has dazzled and at the same time tested the boundaries of the
western notions and audiences still unfamiliar with the concept,
production and presentation of contemporary Pacific islands art
let alone contemporary artist's work.
Curated by US based Samoan artist Dr Jewel Castro and Dr Peri
Klemm of California State University, Los Angeles, the exhibition
will run until March 1.
The show is a follow on from last year's resounding success of the
contemporary art show titled, Turning Tides, Gender In Pacific
Island Art which was held in San Diego also in the United States.
In the Island Affinities art exhibition, participating artists
presented artworks that depicted their individual perspectives of
Pacific islands: identities through the varying degree of concepts
and techniques versus application of materials and mediums used.
They presented what it was like to be a contemporary Pacific
island artist in the global art scene and how being a Pacific
islander influenced their artwork.
The very complex question of what it means to be a Pacific
Islander leads to many different answers. It is hard to classify
such an enormous region that includes thousands of different
cultures and language groups.
Ultimately, Pacific Islanders are diverse and this diversity is
reflected in their artwork. Migration continues to be a constant
theme in Oceania. Historically, Pacific Islanders were skilled in
two-way navigation making frequent journeys between islands and
across the ocean.
This constant migration led to a continued exchange of ideas and
goods. Today, Pacific Islanders continue to migrate. Many of the
artists featured in this exhibition live outside their place of
origin and find creative energy in ideas generated by movement.
They also continue to reference their Hawaiian, Papua New Guinean,
Samoan, and Tongan cultures as they dialogue with issues of place,
space, and memory.
Like their forefathers and mothers, the artists of "Island
Affinities" draw on past traditions, materials, and themes in
order to address their identity and presence in a changing world.
This exhibition highlights the continuation of Pacific aesthetics
through conventional themes such as genealogy, gender, and
spirituality and contemporary responses to colonization,
globalization, and sovereignty.
Moreover, the organizers produced both videos and artwebsite of
the show that has helped with the publicity of the art exhibition.
A staggering 2000 visitors attended the exhibition opening on
January 29.
The event had an island flavour with the inclusion of a Fijian
kava drinking ceremony and an artist talk workshop presentation by
London based Maori artist Ms Rosanna Raymond.
A high profile Tongan delegation also witnessed the opening
ceremony where their country's major contribution to the art
exhibition was a two-meter long ngatu tapa cloth.
In addition, local media reviews of the show has been very good
with features in the Los Angeles Times and the AAP.
The overall sentiment has been the call for more contemporary art
shows by Pacific Island artists in the United States.
 
|
