Pacific arts go international

Date: 25 May 2004

Pacific arts go international

Pacific Arts Committee announces grants

Pacific Arts Committee announces grants

Announcing the grants in the Pacific Arts Committee's latest project funding round, Chair Marilyn Kohlhase said there was a growing international interest in the work of Pacific artists from New Zealand. This was reflected in the increased number of exciting proposals seeking funding support for international activity.

Among the grants to international projects was a $12,000 grant supporting the presentation of the play, Vula, at the Fourth Pacific Wave Festival 2004 in Sydney in November. Written and directed by Nina Nawalowalo, Vula has had successful seasons in Wellington and at the Taupo Arts Festival.

A $10,000 grant was offered to the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir, which is touring to the United States and Canada from 30 June to 18 July. Five of the 56 Choir members are of Pacific Islands heritage and the grant will support their participation.

"The Committee was delighted to be able to support these talented young Pacific singers in their pursuit of excellence," Ms Kohlhase said. "The Choir plays an important role in New Zealand music, offering its members valuable training and performance opportunities. Many of the Choir members continue with their singing at a tertiary level while some, such as Jonathan Lemalu, pursue a successful singing career."

Also supported was the Niuean dance group Tau Fuata Niue of Waterview, Auckland. An $8000 grant will contribute to the costs of performing at the 4th Shanghai Baoshan Folk Art Festival in China in October. The invitation to perform at this festival resulted from the dance group's performance at the Pasifika Festival 2003 in Auckland.

In this funding round, the Pacific Arts Committee received 49 applications for project funding, seeking nearly $600,000. In the end, it offered a total of $178,670 to 33 projects (including one project supported through Creative New Zealand's out-of-time process).

The Pacific Arts Committee has four funding programmes to which artists, groups and organisations apply. The programmes are Pacific Arts Development, Pacific Arts Promotion, Heritage Arts and Tangata Whenua Links.

Two features of the round were strong proposals from first-time applicants and an increase in applications from Christchurch, Ms Kohlhase said.

"The Committee supported projects by both emerging and established artists, and from a range of Island groups and artforms," she said. "It's always pleasing when we see examples of how our grants and initiatives have helped foster emerging artists and encouraged them to develop arts careers."

For instance, Daren Kamali of Sandringham, Auckland last year released his first four-track EP, Keep It Real, with Pacific Arts Committee support. Now, the rap/reggae artist has been offered a $5000 grant to produce and promote his second album.

Last year, the Pacific Arts Committee organised First Draft, a workshop for emerging Pacific writers in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland. In this funding round, the Committee offered an $1800 grant to the First Draft Pacific Writers Group of Christchurch to hold a follow-up workshop entitled Second Draft.

And Arnett Arapi (Niuean) of Freemans Bay, Auckland was offered a $3000 grant to develop a script for theatre. A participant in the Committee's First Draft workshop, the writer has a long involvement in Pacific theatre and film but this is her first play script.

Under the Heritage Arts funding programme, the Pacific Arts Committee supported eight projects aimed at preserving and documenting traditional Island cultures. For instance, Susan Elliott-Searell (Fijian) of Wadestown, Wellington was offered a $4000 grant to research and document the symbolism and use of the tabua (whale's tooth) as an integral part of past and present-day Fijian communities.

In Tokoroa, two grants were offered to the Cook Islands community. A $5500 grant to Ngamata Enoka supports a book documenting the art of tivaevae and profiling its artists, while a $2200 grant to Tiare Maori supports a tivaevae exhibition, to be held in Tokoroa in December 2004.

Applications to the Pacific Arts Committee's next funding round close on Friday 30 July 2004. Copies of The Funding Guide: Ngä Pütea 2004-2005 are available from Creative New Zealand offices or can be downloaded from the resources section of its website ( www.creativenz.govt.nz).

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Pacific Arts Committee project grants

Pacific Arts Development

$4970 to Nicola Seuren and Iosefa Enari of Mairangi Bay, Auckland: towards a Pacific dance workshop to choreograph and rehearse a dance work. Addressing themes on the urbanisation of dislocated ethnic cultures and youth, the work will be translated into film at a later stage.

$2500 to Jason Greenwood (Samoan) of Point Chevalier, Auckland: towards developing and writing a full-length stage play

$10,000 to the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir: towards costs of the Choir's Pacific Island members touring to the United States and Canada in July 2004.

$3000 to Posenai Mavaega (Samoan) of Christchurch: towards composing new work for the 2005 Christchurch Arts Festival

$8000 to Black Horse of Wellington: towards developing and presenting a solo work at BATS Theatre in September 2004

$5000 to Fono McCarthy (Samoan) of Manukau City, Auckland: towards Le Gafa, a group exhibition of contemporary art in Samoa. Including the work of New Zealand-based Pacific artists, the exhibition will be run in conjunction with the Teuila Festival in September 2004

$6000 to Andy Leleisi'uao (Samoan) of Mangere, Auckland: towards developing a new body of work for exhibition at Whitespace Gallery later in 2004

$6000 to Bartley Nees Gallery of Wellington: towards a solo exhibition of photographs by Shigeyuki Kihara called O le tala mai le vavau - the legends of Samoa

$4000 to Erolia Ifopo (Samoan) of Wellington: towards completing the final draft of The Native Chef Memoirs. The book documents both Ifopo's personal journey and her professional career in the performing arts

$1800 to the First Draft Pacific Writers Group of Christchurch: towards the cost of holding a one-day writers' workshop called Second Draft

$4000 to Mario Gaoa (Samoan) of Herne Bay, Auckland: towards researching and writing a short film script, Sina's Jandals, targeted at a Pacific youth audience

$3000 to Arnette Arapai (Niuean) of Freemans Bay, Auckland: towards costs of developing a script for theatre

$2500 to Sebastian Hurrell (Tongan) of Palmerston North: towards workshopping a theatre script, Palangi Loi

$8000 to Tau Fuata Niue of Waterview, Auckland: towards the costs of performing at the 4th Shanghai Baoshan Folk Art Festival in China in October

Pacific Arts Promotion

$10,000 to the Harbourfront Centre of Toronto: towards the cost of three Pacific artists participating in the Planet IndigenUs Festival in August 2004, a ten-day multi-disciplinary festival of indigenous arts at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto

$12,000 to the Pacific Wave Association of Sydney: towards the cost of presenting Nina Nawalowalo's play, Vula, in November at the Fourth Pacific Wave Festival 2004 in Sydney

$3800 to Heide Museum of Modern Art of Melbourne: towards research and development of an exhibition of Pacific arts to coincide with the 2006 Commonwealth Games, being hosted by Melbourne

$8000 to New Pacific Underground of Christchurch: towards promotional costs for the 5th annual Pacific Arts Festival of Christchurch, to be held from 2 - 5 February 2005. Hosted by Pacific Underground, the festival is for "all ages, all cultures, all genders"

$12,000 to the Lijan Ltd of Auckland: towards the cost of touring a theatre production, Taro King, to Wellington following its successful premiere season in Auckland

$8000 to Lonnie Hutchinson (Samoan/Ngai Tahu) of Lyttelton, Christchurch: towards a six-week artist residency at the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada and group exhibition in Vancouver

$5000 to Daren Kamali (Fijian) of Sandringham, Auckland: towards production and promotional costs of his second album, Immigrant Stylez, D. Kamalize, in June 2004. The rap/reggae artist is a member of the Aotearoa New Zealand delegation taking part in the 9th Festival of Pacific Arts in Belau in July 2004

$1000 to Tau Tuata Niue of Waterview, Auckland: towards costs of promotional material, supporting the dance group's aim to promote itself and develop new markets

$5000 to Maurice Banse (Samoan) of Birkdale, Auckland: towards the cost of a national tour, promoting the singer/songwriter (Mo'Reece) and his original music

$10,000 to Waitakere Pacific Island Advisory Board of Waitakere: towards fees for artists participating in the Living Arts Festival in November 2004

Heritage Arts

$4000 to Susan Elliott-Searell (Fijian) of Wadestown, Wellington: towards research and documentation of the symbolism and use of the tabua (whale's tooth) as an integral part of past and present-day Fijian communities

$4000 to Matariki Te Mekameka o Te Mareva Trust of Wellington: towards documenting traditional Cook Islands chants and legends for radio broadcast

$4000 to the Wellington Kirbati Club of Wellington: towards cultural dance and language workshops, building on earlier workshops and preparing for the 25th Kiribati Independence anniversary celebrations to be held in Wellington in July 2004

$2200 to Tiare Maori of Tokoroa: towards the cost and materials of a tivaevae exhibition, to be held in Tokoroa in December 2004

$5500 to Ngamata Enoka of Tokoroa: towards documenting and printing a book on the art of tivaevae and profiling the artists

$5000 to TA 5 Group of Otahuhu, Auckland: towards the cost of recording a CD of Niuean songs

$5000 to Toeaina a Matauala of Porirua: towards publishing a book on the cultural traditions associated with the art of Tokelauan fishing

$2400 to Tomui Kaloni of North Shore City, Auckland: towards researching and writing a book on Tongan architecture

Tangata Whenua Links

$3000 to NZM Records Ltd of Auckland: towards the cost of recording an EP, Innocent Seeds, by Tanya Dyer (aka Silver Rhyme), a young woman of Jamaican/Samoan heritage, and featuring emerging Mäori artist Darcel Beach (aka Lioness).

Undine Marshfield Senior Media and Communications Adviser Creative New Zealand Old Public Trust Building 131 - 135 Lambton Quay PO Box 3806 Wellington New Zealand Tel: + 64 (0) 4 498 0725 Mob: + 64 (0) 25 965 925 www.nzatvenice.com www.creativenz.govt.nz

ENDS

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