Taking its cue from the seminal essay entitled “Our Sea of Islands” by Tongan philosopher Epeli Hau’ofa, Kihara’s seminar offers a “glimpse” into contemporary visual culture in the Pacific by examining her own work alongside her contemporaries. Kihara will look into how they translate indigenous knowledge and urban experiences into forms such as painting, printing, design installation, performance, film and video making. The seminars aim to address the themes that underlie this visual culture and the inspirations for creating art and design. Themes such as indigeneity, migration and diaspora; cultural memory and erasure; the creation of complex cultural identities and politics of place will be explored.

About Yuki Kihara

Yuki Kihara is an interdisciplinary artist whose work engages with a variety of social, political and cultural issues in the Pacific region. Kihara’s works have been presented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (solo exhibition, 2008); Asia Pacific Triennial (2002, 2015), Auckland Triennial (2009), Sakahàn Quinquennial (2013), Daegu Photo Biennial (2014) and Honolulu Biennial (2017). Kihara collaborated as artistic co-director alongside choreographer Jochen Roller on a dance production entitled Them and Us (2015) which premiered at Sophiensaele, Berlin, touring several venues across Europe. In 2017 Kihara curated a solo exhibition by artist and scholar Katerina Teaiwa entitled Project Banaba commissioned by Carriageworks, in Gadigal, Sydney, Australia. As an artist, Kihara will present her upcoming solo exhibition commissioned by the National Museum of World Cultures, Netherlands in 2018. Kihara is based between Sāmoa and Aotearoa New Zealand.