The Pacific Arts Summit presents an exciting programme showcasing Pacific art and emerging talent, with music, dance, art, fashion, theatre and more.

Parallels/Lounge Room Tribalism

21 April - 3 June, Monday to Friday 9am-5pm, weekends 10am-4pm
Mangere Arts Centre - Ngā Tohu o Uenuku

Parallels is Niuean artist Darcell Apelu’s graduate work from AUT University. Apelu uses her experiences competing in both national and international competitive wood chopping to inform her performance work.

Lounge Room Tribalism is a solo exhibition from the other end of the spectrum. Samoan painter, Graham Fletcher paints the living rooms of affluent Western collectors, and their elaborate display of ornaments and furniture.

True South

Friday 4 May, 8pm
Mangere Arts Centre - Ngā Tohu o Uenuku
$20 (available from Mangere Arts Centre or www.eventfinder.co.nz)

True South is a jewel in the crown of the Pacific Arts Summit. Where big is the norm and street style is as much influenced by mass media as it is by (multi) cultural identity, south Auckland is the perfect space for a night of fierce fashion to seriously shake up notions of Nesian body politics.

Scorpions for Life

Saturday 5 May, 9am-4.30pm
Otara Scorpions Rugby, League Clubrooms, Ngati Otara Park

The Pacific Arts Summit comes to the home of the Otara Scorpions. The Scorpions home ground at Ngati Otara Park will host an exciting mural project on the exterior of their clubrooms painted by talented and gifted local realism artist and tattooist Joe Lane. This mural painting will be a central focal point during the Otara Scorpions Gala Day.

OMAC Unplugged

Friday 18 May, 7pm
Otara Music Arts Centre, Otara Town Centre
Free

OMAC Unplugged is an intimate evening of story telling and live music celebrating the histories, music and community around one of South Auckland’s musical institutions, Otara Music Arts Centre (OMAC). Celebrating NZ Music Month, Southside style.

WWJD

11 May-23 June, Tuesday to Friday 10am-5pm, Saturday 8am-2pm
Fresh Gallery Otara
Free

Celebrating Fresh Gallery Otara’s sixth anniversary, WWJD is a special group exhibition with firm roots in south Auckland.

Plantation

14-20 May, 7.30pm-9pm
Mangere Arts Centre - Ngā Tohu o Uenuku
Waged adult $20, concession (10+) $18, child $15 (available from Mangere Arts Centre or www.eventfinder.co.nz)

Plantation is the sequel to Iaheto Ah Hi’s first play Tautai, which was staged at Mangere Arts Centre in 2010. It is a Polynesian love story that explores the ancient knowledge of growing taro and the trials of growing families.

Hump Day Art Talks

Wednesdays 9, 16 and 23 May, 6pm-7.30pm
Z Block, Manukau Institute of Technology, 50 Lovegrove Crescent, Otara
Free

Hump Day Art Talks is a series of stimulating mid-week panel discussions concerning Pacific approaches to artists in society, creative criticism and the art hustle.

Wednesday 9 May: Art/life - Considering the modern-day challenges of life + art, panellists explore the importance of artists in society sharing ideas about the cultural, social and economic significance of artists within the Pacific community.

Wednesday 16 May: Crit me a river - What makes a good or bad art critic? And what demands do they face within the Pacific and wider New Zealand community? Panelists share ideas and personal experiences from the often tumultuous road of critiquing “our” Pacific arts and communities.

Wednesday 23 May: The Art Game - How do you promote your work? What makes a great exhibition? What is the business of being an artist? This panel has the answers! Up the ante and get your hustle on!

Girls Who Shoot / Boys Who Draw

19 May-16 June, Monday to Friday 9am-5pm, Saturday 10am-2pm
Papakura Art Gallery
Free

Girls Who Shoot / Boys Who Draw is not a show about cowgirls and boys in a gun fight. Nor does it make witty references to drug epidemics and samurai swords. It is a show that is quite literal in its naming - Girls Who Shoot refers to female photographers and Boys Who Draw, to the male artists alongside them, who have drawing-based practices.

Pacific Dance Fono

Saturday 19 May, 10am-4pm
AUT University, 640 Great South Road, Manukau
Free

The Pacific Dance Fono is held each year with the aim of bringing together various dance practitioners from New Zealand to share, support and network with each other. This year’s theme for the fono is sustainability.