Two Solos

#TwoSolos is not a conventional crowdfunding campaign: the exhibitions themselves have not yet been formed, so the project itself isn't filled with detail, something the artists themselves confirmed in our pitch video.

Instead, this project ask is about investing in the potential of two artists. Potential that has been observed, tapped and documented by me, Ema Tavola, over the past two decades. It is this track record, and this depth of understanding the ways in which they work, that gives me a total faith in what they can and will produce given the opportunity. I wrote a bit about it here.

For those who aren't familiar with my practice, this campaign is probably asking you to have a lot of faith in me! I am curator who cut my teeth making grassroots exhibition programming for the gallery, Fresh Gallery Ōtara from 2006-2012; I made 66 shows there before I resigned to pursue freelance work. Before opening Vunilagi Vou in 2019, I was producing longer-term research-based projects including the first Veiqia Project exhibition for ST PAUL St Gallery in 2016 (co-curated by Dr Tarisi Vunidilo), Dravuni: Sivia yani na Vunilagi - Beyond the Horizon for the New Zealand Maritime Museum also in 2016 (co-curated with my father, Kaliopate Tavola), and A Maternal Lens for the 4th Biennale of Casablanca, Morocco in 2018. Curating Moana Pacific art has been the backbone of my career; I love making shows, and I love working with artists who have something important to say.

Approaching the end of our campaign's first week, I'm starting to share more insights across social media channels (Twitter and Instagram) about the act of curating solo shows, the bigger picture of what South Auckland contributes to the culture of Pacific arts in Aotearoa and how donations to this campaign contribute to not only the two artists - Niu Lemalu and Genevieve Pini - but to Vunilagi Vou and the movement we've been driving since we first opened doors in 2019.

This weekend, curator Nigel Borell MNZM shared some choice words in support of this kaupapa, and Vunilagi Vou's mission. Check it out below...

Thank you so much to those who have donated, shared and helped amplify this campaign and kaupapa - much appreciated. We still have a big mountain to climb, so every click and share, every dollar, every little endorsement helps tremendously - thank you so much for every bit of support!

There is something very satisfying about being at the halfway mark of our four week campaign and sitting on 50% of our target of $10k...

Satisfying, and filled with gratitude, but slightly daunted about the prospect of raising the remaining $5k in 14 days. Can we do it? Can we do it with your help??

As has been shared throughout this campaign, this project is not filled with 'knowns'. The outcome of Genevieve Pini and Niu Lemalu's solo exhibitions is yet to be developed; this fund will enable them the time and space, support and materials to get to that point.

Genevieve and Niu are both relatively unknown in the wider awareness of Moana Pacific artists; in both cases, most of the creative work has happened in South Auckland, within grassroots settings, or within exhibitions that I've curated. Genevieve is a multiple award-winner from what was our annual design competition, Villa Maria Cult Couture and was profiled on Fresh TV here, and I featured three of Niu's paintings in a pop-up exhibition series I made in 2015 called the PIMPI Winter Series; his interview was the most popular page on the website offering excellent insights to the mind of this painter, check it out here. In fact, both Genevieve and Niu made work for the PIMPI Winter Series in 2015, which I discussed on Radio New Zealand here.

I've had faith and been excited by both Genevieve and Niu's art practices for almost 20 years. Niu made his first solo show at Fresh Gallery Ōtara when he was only 21 years old; Genevieve and I first met at Manukau School of Visual Arts in 2002 aged 19. It is this depth of familiarity, of knowing, that gives me total faith that this investment will enable them both to bring exciting, post-pandemic, deeply marinated ideas to the table... and I can't wait to see what is produced!

I've asked some peers to help endorse this project's kaupapa, and Ōtara-based artist and educator Leilani Kake offered a moving message about the importance of making solo shows here, and celebrated curator Nigel Borell MNZM, offered an insight about my curatorial practice and the act of making shows in South Auckland here. This week across social media, I published another testimonial by another award-winning peer, Tanu Gago MNZM - check it out below. I'm so grateful to this community of practice that surrounds Vunilagi Vou, and every project we produce and artist we work with.

Tanu mentions one thing at the beginning of this video that is sometimes not easy to really articulate. The act of curating Tanu Gago's first solo shows wasn't just because I had total faith in him, his visual language and what he had to say (as I do with Niu and Genevieve), but that curating his work was an act of fortifying a time and space for him in the art world, and in the case of Tanu, a time and space that became a launchpad for a tremendous trajectory.

The intention when curating Moana Pacific artists into exhibitions, whether group or solo endeavours, is never about the pursuit of fame, sales or fortune, but always about enabling artists to see themselves in a wider art world that mostly doesn't look or sound like us. As a curator, my role has always been to enable artists to feel their voices are valid and important. To be affirmed, and know that someone is listening and hyping you, to know that you don't stand alone, and that imposter syndrome can always be countered when we move together.

In essence, this crowdfunding effort is about more than two solo exhibitions. The donations and support from our communities so far has already shown these two artists the belief people have in what they do and what they will do. It is that investment that I know will have the most powerful impact on them, today and into the future. That shift in feeling supported, valid and worthy of investment is what will create some really powerful work in 2023.

Hitting our $10k target will enable all this good stuff to happen with a bit more ease. In the case of both artists, applying for CNZ arts grant investment has never really felt like an option. The process itself is a barrier, the competition for funds is aggressive, and as Nigel Borell states in his video, making art is so often a 3rd, 4th even 5th priority for working folx.

As a curator who is interested in the power and potential of sometimes the quietest voices, and a curator who has seen artists grow and flourish in abundant, art history shifting ways, I hope the next two weeks can show us how much faith our communities can generate for not only these two excellent artists, but also Moana Pacific curating as a mode of service and of decolonisation.

Vinaka vakalevu!