OFO HAKE: Koe Ngatu Teuteu 'o 'Akesa mo 'Isileli Fifita

UNSW Galleries is taking a break from normal operations and will temporarily close to the public from 24 March 2020 until further notice. We are prioritising the health of our staff and community and hope to be open again soon. As we adapt to the COVID-19 health emergency in Australia, we will be supporting our exhibiting artists by sharing projects online and developing new initiatives to connect with audiences.
 
If you would like to get in touch please contact unswgalleries@unsw.edu.au or call +61 2 8936 0888
 
For more details on UNSW’s response to COVID-19, please visit: https://www.covid-19.unsw.edu.au

This special project features a ngatu (painted bark cloth tapestry) created in Tonga and New Caledonia by artist and curator Ruha Fifita with help from friends and family, and a second one made collaboratively with her extended family in Vaimalo and Aotearoa New Zealand. These remarkable works represent the critical role of fibre arts in Pacific culture, ceremony and community life, as well as honouring intergenerational learning. The exhibition title ‘OFO HAKE’ evokes a sense of awaking to respond to something new – an awareness embedded in the spiritual and material process of making the ngatu – and the narrative expression, knowledge and faith gained from their grandparents 'Akesa and 'Isileli Fifita.
 
Lototō 2016 – a Tongan word suggesting values of humility and generosity – speaks to our relationship and interactions with the natural environment. It was made with pigments from Vava'u and Ile Ouen and is based on stories, legends and songs associated with the ancestral migration of whales. The family's collaborative work, Koe Ngoue Manongi (The Fragrant Garden) 2019, reflects on the bonds that unite extended families, as well as the way these relationships nurture levels of unity that extend amongst its members, embracing diversity and enabling individuals within.

WHEN: 17 JANUARY - 18 APRIL 2020
WHERE: UNSW GALLERIES
ADDRESS: CNR OF OXFORD ST & GREENS RD, PADDINGTON NSW 2021
HOURS: TUES TO SAT, 10AM-5PM. CLOSED PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

More information

Image: Ruha Fifita, 'Lototō 1' 2016 (detail). Earth pigments, natural dyes and tuitui (Candlenut soot) on ngatu (barkcloth). Image courtesy: the artist. Photograph: Arnaud Elissalde