‘Le Folauga represents the past, the present and the future. It means the voyage and the changes that occur along the way. It shows the movement towards the future and traveling in the direction of the current. Le Folauga has the sense of a flotilla moving together and forward.’
Johnny Penisula
During the mid-1960s, Auckland Art Gallery initiated a series of exhibitions in order to present an overview of New Zealand’s contemporary art. No Pacific artist was included in these shows, although Teuane Tibbo was already creating paintings in Auckland and Johnny Penisula was carving sculpture in Invercargill.
In the last four decades there has been an enormous increase in the number of Pacific artists currently working in Aotearoa New Zealand. The first exhibition to specifically profile these artists was Bottled Ocean, curated by Jim Vivieaere in 1994 for a national tour, organised by City Gallery Wellington.
The exhibition was an eye-opener for many people because it revealed the extent of the talent within local Pacific art.
Le Folauga brings together fourteen Pacific artists who work with painting, sculpture, photography, video and installation. Many of them have had substantial experience in exhibiting nationally and internationally. The work that they display here is intended to parallel and, in some cases, respond to the objects of Pacific manufacture included in the Vaka Moana exhibition.
This exhibition is the second presentation of contemporary Pacific artists held at Auckland Museum and follows on from ReDress that was shown in the Pacific hall during 1998. That show responded to the closing of the Pacific hall prior the Museum’s renovation.
Le Folauga reveals the extensive growth happening within contemporary Pacific art by inviting a diverse group of New Zealand based artists. Their art is amongst some of the most vital and expressive being created in New Zealand.
Fulimalo Pereira
Curator Pacific
Auckland Museum
Ron Brownson
Senior Curator
New Zealand and Pacific Art
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
