Conversation On Art and Labour

 

Saturday 14 April 2018
Te Tuhi
Pakuranga

 

Head along to Te Tuhi from 1:00pm for an informal discussion that will bring together a number of practicing artists to explore the idea of labour within contemporary art. The panel will discuss John Vea’s current exhibition, “you kids should only experience this for a moment – don’t be here for life like me”, as an entry into conversations and collective responses to art making in Aotearoa.

 

Participants: 

 

Ioana Gordon-Smith (chair)
Ioana Gordon-Smith is curator at Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery. Though her areas of interest span a broad range of disciplines, consistent throughout is a curatorial process that prioritises a close working relationship with artists. Ioana also contributes regularly to magazines and journals, and is a trustee for the community-focused art collective Whau The People.

 

John Vea
Artist John Vea works predominately with sculpture, moving image and performance exploring the results of Pacific migration and gentrification of New Zealand. He researches migrant labour through talanoa: an experience of sharing ideas, stories and conversation that is always face-to-face. His current exhibition at Te Tuhi focuses on the people and conditions within Auckland’s factories.

 

Sione Faletau
Sione Faletau is a performance and video based artist whose work deals with the Tongan ideals of body and masculinity. In his works he uses his body to negotiate these ideas of the Tongan male body as a tool.

 

Salome Tanuvasa
Salome Tanuvasa is a Samoan-Tongan artist based in Auckland. She completed her Masters in Fine Arts at Elam in 2014, followed by a Diploma in Secondary Teaching. Salome was the Artspace/Tautai Education Intern in 2016 and now is the Education Manager at Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts. Her art practice looks at the ideas of home and the multiple connections of a place that can inform the characteristics of a person.

 

Matavai Taulangao
Matavai Taulangau completed his bachelor of Visual Arts with Honours at AUT University in 2016. Interested in the idea of labour, Taulangau takes notice, observes and through his lens based practice, values occupations which some may seem as not important. As he explores the value of work intrinsically connected is the value of people and their experiences.

 

Click HERE for more details.