‘Only time will tell’ (2022) by Yuki Kihara

‘Only time will tell’ (2022) by Yuki Kihara. ‘Ie tōga (Sāmoan fine mat) and mixed media.
Courtesy of Yuki Kihara and Milford Galleries Dunedin and Queenstown, Aotearoa New Zealand.

Artist Statement

‘Only time will tell’ (2022) is a title of a life-size sculpture that mimics the gesture of the New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s ifoga performed at the Auckland Town Hall on 1st August 2021.

Ifoga is a Sāmoan custom of dispute resolution. It involves one party ritually and publicly humiliating themselves by being covered with an ‘ie tōga (Sāmoan fine mat) as an act of asking forgiveness for their or their kin’s wrongdoing.

Prime Minister Ardern’s ifoga was directed at the historical actions of the New Zealand government. In the 1970s, the New Zealand government instructed police in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland to target Pacific people by raiding their homes and/or stopping them randomly on the street to verify their right to be in the country, despite the majority of overstayers during the 1970s and 1980s being from Europe or North America.

Prime Minister Ardern’s ifoga was accepted with the lifting of the ‘ie toga by the members of the Pacific community. Following the ifoga, Arden apologized for the actions of the New Zealand government during the dawn raids and announced government funding for scholarships and leadership assistance for Pacific nations and communities as a form of reparations to undo the consequences of their actions.

While the New Zealand government’s ifoga has been well-received by the national media, the dawn raids are part of the wider problem of systemic racism against Pacific people who continues to be over-represented among the unemployed, lower-skilled workers and low-income earners in the country who had formally colonized and continue to colonize their homelands in the region. Are the positive and progressive actions of the Government manifesting in the lives of Pacific people living in New Zealand? When will we begin to see changes in the lives of Pacific peoples?

As Sāmoa celebrates its 60th Anniversary of Independence from the New Zealand colonial administration on the 1st of June 2022, it’s also a timely occasion to question New Zealand’s ongoing relationship with Sāmoa and the Pacific where that might be headed.

Only time will tell.