Ioane Ioane

Kaikoura, 2016-2017

Totara
10 parts, 700 x 450 mm ea

Dedicated to the community of the South Island town Kaikoura and its coast that was lifted metres into the air during the 14 November 2016 earthquake.

Aotearoa is located on the boundary between two great tectonic plates, the Australian and the Pacific, which behave like shells sliding over the surface of a sphere the Australian plate heading north while the Pacific plate moves west. The eerie exposure of the seabed in Kaikoura resulted from co-seismic movement and produced a shift in the ecosystem.

Kaikoura celebrates the strength and beauty of Kaikoura sea life and its resilience, encouraging the survival during change. The work is a tribute to the local group of paua rescuers and Te Runanga o Kaikoura Ngāi Tahu for their combined effort in relocating sea life. The strength and beauty of the cowry shell inspired my response. Beauty and strength rises from adversity.

– Ioane Ioane

Ioane Ioane

born 1962, lives and works in Auckland

Ioane Ioane‘s practice involves sculpture, painting, installations and performance. His work acknowledges the spiritual and transitional nature of the space between or ‘Va’ as a place of respect and transformation, birth and becoming in his Samoan heritage. Ioane is a Senior Pacific artist with 30 years of Kaupapa Pasifika in his role as a visual creative social commentator and mentor.

Ioane has a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Elam School of Art, The University of Auckland. Ioane exhibits nationally and internationally and in 2016 he was Artist in Residence at the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, University of Canterbury and represented New Zealand at the 12th South Pacific Arts Festival, Guam. His work is in private and public collections including: The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington; Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki; Cambridge Museum of Anthropology, United Kingdom and Tijibou Cultural Museum Centre, New Caledonia.