Pacific art goes worldwide

BEN CAMPBELL/Manukau Courier

WORLD FAMOUS: Ema Tavola, left, and Leilani Kake are taking Otara's art to the world.

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Otara artist and curator Ema Tavola will be a breath of fresh Pacific air when she presents a paper at the world’s largest visual arts forum later this month.

The director and curator of Fresh Gallery Otara has been invited to talk at the College Art Association conference in Los Angeles.

She will be part of a panel talking about urban Pacific art in New Zealand and local artist Leilani Kake and Pakuranga-based curator Giles Peterson will be sitting alongside her.

As part of the panel discussion Ms Tavola is going to talk about how Fresh Gallery Otara makes Pacific art accessible to Pacific audiences.

She says part of her drive comes from watching Pacific artists struggle to make their work fit into a Western art system.

Four years out of art school, and with the success of the Fresh Gallery Otara to back her up, Ms Tavola now has a chance to show people that Pacific art is strong enough to stand on its own two feet.

However she wasn’t even sure she’d even have the funds to make it to the conference.

But at the 11th hour she got a call from the United States Consulate General saying she’d won an artist’s grant.

"I applied for the grant last October but due to the United States elections I thought it might have fallen through the gaps," she says.

The grant doesn’t cover everything but Ms Tavola’s topping it up with money she’s been squirreling away.

When asked what she’s taking with her she says "catalogues from Fresh Gallery" to illustrate her commitment to making Otara world famous – in Los Angeles at least.

Award-winning artist Leilani Kake says she’s "buzzing" about the trip because she’s never been to the US before.

Ms Kake recently won the Salamander Gallery award for emerging Pacific visual artist and her trip has been partially funded by Creative New Zealand.

The performance piece she’s taking with her explores New Zealand’s seabed and foreshore deal and she has "no idea" how the concept will travel.

To ensure the artistic trio make the most of their three-week trip they’ve also organised additional talks around the California area.

They’re speaking to students at the University of California at Santa Cruz and Berkley.

Mr Peterson and Ms Kake are also giving a presentation at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.

Then on their way home they’re stopping in Hawaii where Ms Kake and Ms Tavola have work in an exhibition called Pacific Nation.

Ms Tavola says: "I haven’t left the Pacific for over 10 years.

"I hope this is the first of many trips."

- © Fairfax NZ News