Abstract
This paper explores SALTWATER / Interconnectivity (Tautai Gallery, Aotearoa, 2020–21) as a case study in Indigenous-led curating, where talanoa, performance, and activism amplified the voices of young Pasifika artists. Co-curated by Katharine Losi Atafu-Mayo and Giles Peterson, the exhibition embodied the relational, fluid nature of the Moana, focusing on justice, identity, and resilience through new works by contemporary new-generation indigenous Pacific islander artists. More than a static exhibition, SALTWATER extended into the Auckland Writers Festival (2021), where performance became a platform for storytelling, knowledge exchange, and resistance—addressing climate change, diaspora displacement, and colonial impacts. This project exemplifies niu ecologies, emergent frameworks in Moana curatorial practice that foreground Indigenous futurisms and activism, empowering young Pasifika communities to shape Oceania’s contemporary narrative. Drawing from my work as a curator and educator, I examine how exhibitions like SALTWATER function as models for community-centered curating—transforming spaces of art into spaces of gathering and healing. By examining curatorial methodologies rooted in niu ecologies, I discuss how they challenge institutional frameworks and reimagine Pacific arts, fostering deeper connections to ancestral knowledge, ecosystems, and people-place relationships. This paper invites scholars, artists, and educators to reflect on how curatorial practice affirms Indigenous Pacific sovereignty, resilience, and social justice. How do youth-led indigenous Pasifika artists, and creative movements sustain cultural and ecological resilience in the Oceania Pacific? This study explores contemporary Pasifika art as a powerful tool for niu ecologies, cultural survival, decolonial Indigenous resistance, social and design activism, community building, resilience, hope, intergenerational knowledge, protest, and renewal. https://www.tautai.org/saltwater-interconnectivity
Presenters
Giles PetersonLecturer, Cultural Studies, Contextual Studies - Asia Pacific Region, Regenerative Design, Sustainable Design, Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design, Auckland, New Zealand
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2025 Special Focus—Oceanic Journeys: Multicultural Approaches in the Humanities
KEYWORDS
SALTWATER OCEANIA JOURNEYS INDIGENOUS PASIFIKA CONTEMPORARY ARTS RESILIENCE AGENCY RENEWAL ACTIVISM COMMUNITY
