PULOTU = PAST = FOUNDATION
Pulotu symbolically means Fiji. It references the past and is regarded as the ancestral homeland and after-world of the peoples of Maama (Tonga) and Lagi (Sāmoa).
“We mediate at the intersection of Indigenous communities and institutional settings to create a harmonious time-space by embedding different ways of knowing, seeing & doing.”
Lagi-Maama Academy & Consultancy is a cultural organisation based in Aotearoa New Zealand, set up by Toluma’anave Barbara Makuati-Afitu, of Samoan heritage, and Kolokesa Uafā Māhina-Tuai, of Tongan heritage. Toluma’anave has a background in stakeholder management and community engagement and Kolokesa in Art History, Social Anthropology and Museums and Heritage Studies.
As an Academy we are involved in knowledge production by privileging our Indigenous ways of knowing and seeing, and as a Consultancy we implement by way of knowledge application through privileging our Indigenous ways of doing! Our work connects and builds bridges between institutions and communities through research and writing; community connection and engagement; curatorial advice and critique; capacity and capability building; cultural intelligence and cross-cultural approaches.
Gifting of our name - Lagi-Maama with Hūfanga-He-Ako-Moe-Lotu Professor 'Ōkusitino Māhina
Pacific Heritage Arts Fono 2020 hosted by Pacifica Arts Centre
This is one of five short films captured through the creative lens of Robert George / The Raro Dog, as part of the Pacific Heritage Arts Fono 2020 – Digital Moana Series, with support from Creative New Zealand and hosted by Pacifica Arts Centre.
-
Unity in Diversity and Diversity in Unity
Unity in Diversity and Diversity in Unity is an opportunity to look critically yet harmoniously, with a hoa / soa / balanced mediation, at the internationally renowned Moana Oceania drawings, by John Webber, expedition artist on Captain James Cook's third and final voyage in 1776 - 1780. Specific focus will be on the Moana Oceania Webber plates that were published as part of the official publication of Cook’s third voyage and representing the five island nations of Aotearoa, Cook Islands, Tonga, Tahiti and Hawai‘i.
“The ‘Unity in Diversity and Diversity in Unity’ project seeks to fill a knowledge gap around some of John Webber’s works by providing the missing multiple Indigenous narratives. This requires embracing different ways of knowing, seeing and doing to bring together, for the first time, a body of Indigenous knowledge and narratives specific to the Webber plates that were part of the official publication of Cook’s third and final voyage.”
-
Alive: Kim Hak
Alive was a photography project by Cambodian photographer Kim Hak in partnership with Rei Foundation Limited. It was Lagi-Maama’s first project and the reason that we formally ‘set up’.
“I am so proud to see your work that reflects your professional team efforts and management with tact of this project. This success is due to your cultural respect and participation. You have chosen a difficult path to achieve cross-cultural harmony through inclusion and partnership.”
— Dr Man Hau Liev
-
Pacific Arts Legacy Project
Lagi-Maama were honoured to work with “nine” of our Moana Oceania Master creatives on the Creative New Zealand Pacific Arts Legacy Project. Curated by Lana Lopesi project Editor-in-Chief, it’s a foundational history of Pacific arts in Aotearoa as told from the perspective of the artists who were there.
-
Heart Hunters
Together with the Basement Board - “Heart-Hunters” which included Rosabel Tan, Graham Tipene, and Lagi Maama (Toluma’anave Barbara Makuati-Afitu and Kolokesa Uafā Māhina-Tuai) took an Indigenous approach which involved members of the Basement team, Basement’s wider whanau, and the board, as part of the decision making process around the new appointment of their Director.
-
Otintaai
Otintaai was made by master weavers Kaetaeta Watson and Louisa Humphry QSM (supported by their husbands John Watson and Jack Humphry). She is a bespoke garment of several components, made predominantly from harakeke (flax).
Otintaai is Kiribati for sunrise. It is the name given to the female warrior costume created by master iKiribati weavers and makers Kaetaeta and Louisa who share over a century's worth of cultural knowledge and experience.
She is now lovingly at The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
-
Melbourne Museum - Te Pasifika Exhibition Advisory Group
More to come
