No sense making cents
Extending from his infamous PopoHardwear t-shirt series, Siliga David Setoga mixes graphic design, satirical commentary and consumer culture in this highly-anticipated and significant exhibition.
Siliga confronts ideas around migration, education, the concept of home and sense of identity in his works - where he lists the contributors to his cultural make up as including lavalavas, tattoos, corned beef, Jesus Christ and church, to name a few.
“My art practice is concerned with the semiotics of being Samoan in our New Zealand environment. The signs and the signifiers which validate my Samoaness will be my concentration for this exhibition.” Siliga David Setoga.
Fresh Gallery Otara, Shop 5, 46 Fairmall, Otara Town Centre
When
30 October-21 November,
Opening 29 October, 6-8pm.
Artist’s floor talk 14 November, 12-1.30pm.
Gallery hours
Tuesday-Friday 10am-5pm, Saturday 8am-2pm
Contact ema.tavola@manukau.govt.nz
Member Profile
Siliga David SetogaSiliga Setoga and popohardwear
Siliga’s art is a reflection of living on the border of his Parents’ beloved Samoa and his New Zealand environment. “Our home was lil’ Samoa on a Palagi street in Mt Eden, Central Auckland.” Siliga’s Parents filled their home and family life with fa’a-Samoa. Siliga refers to his home as a “decolonized zone” where Samoan was the only language – “we were smacked if we spoke English”. He recalls his Mum’s Tauloto (scripture verse) “You speak English when you go to school but when you come home you speak Samoan”. But growing up with such strong Samoan influences in Auckland created a sense of confusion that contributed to Siliga “feeling neither here nor there and always wondering, questioning and searching for a place of belonging”. This search for belonging is a continual theme in his art, whether the belonging that his Parents’ generation struggled for or the belonging that his generation of New Zealand-born Samoans ache for.
