The Cold Islanders
26 August - 3 December 2017
Free entry
The physical adjustment to the cold winters of Aotearoa would have been difficult for Maaori, equally so for the second wave of Pacific migrants on arrival here.
The second and third generations of Pacific and Oceanic peoples have adjusted to the cold, but their adjustments have had to be internal. The artists in this exhibition trawl their oceans within dreams, grandparents’ watery memories and droplets of inherited culture to find their coordinates. Often their only navigational compass is the salt water in their blood which yields ancient chants and images ensuring their oceans will never freeze. They are cognisant of not being island-based Islanders; visibility, not authenticity, is their goal. The Pacific-fluid person alone reserves the right to state where they might sit on the Pacific spectrum.
Education programmes are available for this exhibition.
Image: Video still from ‘Reaction to Insults’ and ‘Individualistic’ from Video Performance Series: The Response Series, 2013 by Darcell Apelu (Niue/Aotearoa).
