04May

12May

A Pool is not the Ocean | Louisa Afoa

Louisa Afoa

A Pool is not the Ocean

4 May – 12 May 2017

ST PAUL St Gallery Three

Central Auckland

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Exhibition Details

“Oceania is vast, Oceania is expanding, Oceania is hospitable and generous, Oceania is humanity rising from the depths of brine and regions of fire deeper still, Oceania is us. We are the sea, we are the ocean, we must wake up to this ancient truth and together use it to overturn all hegemonic views that aim ultimately to confine us again, physically and psychologically, in the tiny spaces which we have resisted accepting as our sole appointed place, and from which we have recently liberated ourselves. We must not allow anyone to belittle us again, and take away our freedom.” (Hauofa, 1993). 

How can we turn pain into power? 

A Pool is not the Ocean is an ongoing project by Louisa Afoa that began last year as she moved from her family home in Papakura to Torbay on the North Shore. The works explored sites of social encounters that relate to experiences of prejudice, misconceptions and racism towards brown bodies, specifically drawing upon suburban middle class spaces and situations. 

The act of occupying any space as an indigenous person is inherently political. Carrying on from her previous works, in Afoa’s latest iteration she continues to think about agency for the brown body – in particular her own large brown body and the policing that the body experiences in the world. Through moving image and vinyl installation the artist provides insight into what it feels to be marginalised, with the intention of creating opportunities that might heighten the consciousness of the audience.

ST PAUL St Gallery Three

Opening Hours:
Tuesday – Friday, 12pm – 5pm.

stpaulst.aut.ac.nz