‘O lā ‘āitu lāitiiti We have always been here

Tautai Trust Artist in Residence 2015 Léuli Eshraghi will discuss his and wider Islander Arts Practice in Australia with interdisciplinary artist Yuki Kihara before launching his exhibition ‘O lā ‘āitu lāitiiti (We have always been here) in Studio One Toi TÅ«.

Léuli draws on gabbeh carpet and siapo barkcloth aesthetics to reinscribe the cultural memory of his family, and connect with markmaking and spirituality from across Īrānzamīn and Sāmoa. His works communicate grief and loss of near ancestors, home and the father tongue, relating to his Persian grandmother, grandfather and aunt being killed under tragic circumstances for their beliefs in 1983. Considering the ongoing oppression of family in situ, and would-be erasure by Iranian Revolutionary Guard of destroyed graves, the works decry and mourn the impossibility of sharing cups of tea, growing old together, and reinscribe dignity in the grandparents’ and aunt’s memory. The motifs visualise these hidden stories, concealed traumas, and small spirits now remembered through an imposition into the carceral space.

2nd of March at 5.30 РConversation led by L̩uli Eshraghi: Fluid Islander Sexual, Spiritual, Aesthetic Being

Léuli Eshraghi

3 February – 11 February

Studio One Toi TÅ«, 1 Ponsonby Road, Auckland