Reef Gallery Celebrates 50 Years of Samoan Independence
Untitled - Penitoa Finau
Against their parents’ warnings “you’ll never get anywhere with that art” these photographers - Penitoa Finau, Tux Hika, Mau Muaiava, Raymond Sagapolutele and Fofoga Setoga-Tuala are making names for themselves showing how Samoan and Pacific identities are re-invented across the generations. They are a mix of tertiary graduates and self taught photographers who combine media work, business, tertiary study, management and parenthood with their artistic talents. All have exhibited previously. Mau Muaiava, who was official photographer for Manu Samoa for the Rugby World Cup, is included in an exhibition currently showing in Los Angeles.
Marilyn Kohlhase
Independence Celebration Exhibition reveals how Samoans see themselves
Umu - Fofoga Setoga-Tuala
To mark 50 years of Samoan Independence, Reef Gallery is re-launching with the Bounty Bars and Coconut Roughs Exhibition opening on Saturday June 2. Under the management of Marilyn Kohlhase Director of the former Okai Gallery that specialised in Pacific artists, this show is part of the Auckland Festival of Photography 2012..
Reef Gallery is delighted that the Bounty Bars and Coconut Roughs Exhibition will be opened by Dr Damon Salesa Head of Pacific Studies at the University of Auckland. He has recently returned from a prestigious academic career in North America that began by being the first Pacific Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University in.
In the last 5 decades Samoans in NZ have photographed their lives at home, at church, at festivals, and celebrations for family records. In the ten years a new generation has recorded these same scenes that now demand critical comment and are exhibited in galleries nationally and internationally. Pacific photography books are also being published.
The opening is at 3pm Saturday 2 June.
More details and photographer bios are available on the Reef Gallery Website.
