Ground-Breaking Pacific-led exhibition Re-Stor(y)ing Oceania Opens at Artspace This Month
Following a captivating presentation in Venice’s Ocean Space last year, Re- Stor(y)ing Oceania returns home to the Pacific at Artspace from 23 January to 6 April 2025
Venue: Artspace
Address: The Gunnery, 43/51 Cowper Wharf Roadway, Woolloomooloo NSW 2011
Date: 23 January - 6 April
Time: 11am - 5pm
Ticket: Free
Web: https://www.artspace.org.au/exhibitions/re-stor-y-ing-oceania
EMail: artspace@artspace.org.au
Call: (02) 9356 0555
Address: The Gunnery, 43/51 Cowper Wharf Roadway, Woolloomooloo NSW 2011
Date: 23 January - 6 April
Time: 11am - 5pm
Ticket: Free
Web: https://www.artspace.org.au/exhibitions/re-stor-y-ing-oceania
EMail: artspace@artspace.org.au
Call: (02) 9356 0555
Re-Story(ing) Oceania
Re-Stor(y)ing Oceania is a Pacific-led exhibition featuring two site-specific commissions by artists Latai Taumoepeau and Elisapeta Hinemoa Heta and is curated by Bougainville-born artist Taloi Havini. In this time of ecological crisis, Re- Stor(y)ing Oceania seeks to reframe our relationship to the planet’s largest body of water.
In a collaboration of story, song, performance, action and activism, Re-Stor(y)ing Oceania amplifies the voices of artists and their communities living in the vast and diverse region of the South Pacific Ocean.
Curator Taloi Havini said:
‘Re-Stor(y)ing Oceania draws out what is important to these two very powerful commissions by Heta and Taumoepeau, as well as the many other voices they amplify.
We have been weaving these ideas and experiences since the exhibition was first presented in Venice during the 2024 Biennale and now, we are pleased to bring the exhibition and extensive programs to Artspace, Sydney. The idea is to keep gathering and exchanging on the most urgent environmental issues such as deep-sea mining in the Ocean and the daily climate crisis events that are happening in the history of this planet. Their stories are what will bring people together on these issues.
Heta’s The Body of Wainuiātea, 2024 is a new architectural space for learning, sharing and reconnecting with ancestral stories. Guided by the Māori concept of tikanga (ceremony and protocols) and Pacific architectural forms, Heta makes visible narratives that may have otherwise remained hidden, with a focus on Indigenous and wāhine (women’s) voices.
Taumoepeau’s work Deep Communion sung in minor (ArchipelaGO, THIS IS NOT A DRILL), 2024 immerses visitors in a sound and video installation that draws attention to the dangers of deep sea mining in the Pacific. By inviting the public into a participatory performance using mechanical paddles, Taumoepeau inspires audiences to consider: who will do the work to exercise ecological responsibility?
In a collaboration of story, song, performance, action and activism, Re-Stor(y)ing Oceania amplifies the voices of artists and their communities living in the vast and diverse region of the South Pacific Ocean.
Curator Taloi Havini said:
‘Re-Stor(y)ing Oceania draws out what is important to these two very powerful commissions by Heta and Taumoepeau, as well as the many other voices they amplify.
We have been weaving these ideas and experiences since the exhibition was first presented in Venice during the 2024 Biennale and now, we are pleased to bring the exhibition and extensive programs to Artspace, Sydney. The idea is to keep gathering and exchanging on the most urgent environmental issues such as deep-sea mining in the Ocean and the daily climate crisis events that are happening in the history of this planet. Their stories are what will bring people together on these issues.
Heta’s The Body of Wainuiātea, 2024 is a new architectural space for learning, sharing and reconnecting with ancestral stories. Guided by the Māori concept of tikanga (ceremony and protocols) and Pacific architectural forms, Heta makes visible narratives that may have otherwise remained hidden, with a focus on Indigenous and wāhine (women’s) voices.
Taumoepeau’s work Deep Communion sung in minor (ArchipelaGO, THIS IS NOT A DRILL), 2024 immerses visitors in a sound and video installation that draws attention to the dangers of deep sea mining in the Pacific. By inviting the public into a participatory performance using mechanical paddles, Taumoepeau inspires audiences to consider: who will do the work to exercise ecological responsibility?