Taualuga: the last dance / Shigeyuki Kihara
The solo dance performance entitled Taualuga: The Last Dance (2006) by Samoan-born artist Shigeyuki Kihara is an attempt to communicate wih her ancestors in seeking solutions to today’s global issues that affect the small islands of the South Pacific region.
Within the indigenous cultures of the South Pacific, and specifically in the islands of Samoa, Taualuga is a dance of negotiation and celebration; with an emphasis on dance movements based on a combination of facial expression and elegant hand gestures to convey certain political ideas. Kihara uses the principles of Taualuga as a form of storytelling to reference history and mirror tensions currently taking place globally today.
The artist’s fictitious character, loosely based on Salome, dances in grief wearing a Victorian mourning dress – similar to the dress that was formally introduced to the people of Samoa by the German colonial administration of the early 1900s. The performance combines audio, historical costume and dance forming a tribute to the many leaders and people of Samoa for their resilience in the struggle against modernisation and globalisation.
For more information please visit www.shigeyukikihara.com
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Shigeyuki KiharaShigeyuki Kihara is an artist and independent curator who is interested in ways that art, performance and the public interact and prompt discussions towards the understanding the complexities of humanity. Many of her works have achieved iconic status and critically discussed in diverse areas of academia both in New Zealand and internationally.
A native of Samoa, Kihara’s work has been represented in number of international contemporary art survey exhibitions including 4th Asia- Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (AUS) and 4th Auckland Triennial (NZ). Kihara’s first solo museum exhibition in North America entitled Shigeyuki Kihara; Living Photographs (2008-09) was held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York following the acquisition of her works by the museum for their permanent collection.
Kihara’s solo and group exhibitions has been presented internationally, amongst others, at the de Young Fine Art Museum of San Francisco (USA); Museum of Contemporary Art (AUS); Campbelltown Arts Centre (AUS); 4a Centre for Contemporary Asian Art (AUS); Gallery of Modern Art (AUS); National Gallery of Victoria International (AUS); Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand; Auckland Art Gallery (NZ); Gus Fisher Gallery University of Auckland (NZ); City Gallery Wellington (NZ); Shanghai Zendai Museum of Modern Art; Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (Taiwan); National Museum of Poznan (Warsaw) and Centro Ricerca Arte Attuale (Italy).
Kihara's public performances has been commissioned and staged at, amongst others, Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand; 4th Auckland Triennial (NZ); 4th Asia-Pacific Triennial (AUS); Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin); Musee du Quai Branly (Paris) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (USA).
Kihara was selected as one of five ‘path-breaking artists’ by ArtAsiaPacific Almanac (2008) alongside Mike Parr, NS Harsha, Kimsooja and Huang Yong Ping.
Kihara’s upcoming project include her recent appointment as festival co-presenter of URBAN PACIFIC FESTIVAL – a major multidisciplinary arts festival held at Kampnagel International Centre for Finer Arts, Hamburg Germany 2013 with a focus on Contemporary Maori and Pacific artists and scholars from New Zealand, co-curated with Berlin-based choreographer Jochen Roller.
Examples of Kihara’s work can be found in selected permanent collections internationally including; Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand; Auckland Art Gallery (NZ); Gus Fisher Gallery University of Auckland (NZ); Govett Brewster Art Gallery (NZ); Massey University (NZ); Queensland Art Gallery (AUS); Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation (AUS); University of Cambridge Museum of Archeology and Anthropology (UK); Jean Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre, New Caledonia and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Kihara’s work is also held in number of private collections internationally, including those of Giorgio Armani.
For more information please visit www.shigeyukikihara.com
