Phase 3 'Moana (Pacific Ocean)' 2023. Part of ‘サ–モアのうた (Sāmoa no uta) A song about Sāmoa’ (2019 – 2023) by Yuki Kihara. Approx. (h)2000mm x (w)1000mm. UV print on Sāmoan tapa cloth or handmade paper cloth from the bark of the Paper Mulbery Tree, glass beads, nylon thread and clear vinyl. Courtesy of Yuki Kihara and Milford Galleries, Aotearoa New Zealand. Photo by Gui Taccetti.
Phase 3 'Moana (Pacific Ocean)' 2023
Part of ‘サ–モアのうた (Sāmoa no uta) A song about Sāmoa’ (2019 – 2023) by Yuki Kihara
ARTIST STATEMENT
‘Moana (Pacific Ocean)’ 2023 serves as forewarning against the increasing levels of resource extraction by foreign powers seeking to affirm their geopolitical dominance across the Pacific Ocean. The siapo kimonos portray a chaotic environment featuring a series of hands piercing through the sky uprooting marine species from the Pacific Ocean featuring diverse cutleries that alludes to both their cultural & geographical origins. Theyʻre loosely inspired by an ancient lore describing the genesis of the Sāmoan word ‘Pālagi’ – where Sāmoans upon seeing the first Europeans across the horizon, believed they had pierced (‘Pā’) through the sky (‘lagi’). In and among the chaos, however, we see a Pacific double hull canoe using traditional navigation methods sailing across the Pacific Ocean as a symbol of Indigenous resilience while foreign ships from past and present arriving continuously to compete for domination.
Yuki Kihara
Supported by Creative New Zealand.
