Talofa lava and Greetings.

Welcome to the website of Shigeyuki Kihara, a Samoan-born multimedia and performance artist currently based between Auckland, New Zealand and Sydney, Australia.

‘Le Folauga’ tours to Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan

‘Le Folauga’ is a group exhibition curated by Fuli Pereira (Curator, Auckland Museum, New Zealand) and Ron Brownson (Curator, Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand) for the Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust - an Auckland, New Zealand-based, non-profit organisation which supports the growth and development of contemporary Pacific art in New Zealand and worldwide.

The ‘Le Folauga’ exhibition is a “snapshot” of the current state of contemporary Pacific art from New Zealand.

It was inititally exhibited at the Auckland Museum in early 2007 and is now touring to the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

The ‘Le Folauga’ exhibition opens on the 13 December 2008 and ends on 5 April 2009.

Artists in ‘Le Folauga’ include:
Edith Amituanai
Fatu Feu’u
Steven Gwaliasi
Niki Hastings-McFall
Lonnie Hutchinson
John Ioane
Shigeyuki Kihara
Andy Leleisi’uao
Itiri Ngaro
Ani O’Neill
Johnny Penisula
Filipe Tohi
Michel Tuffery
Jim Vivieaere

Selected works from my ‘Fa’a fafine; In a Manner of a Woman’ series (2005) will be touring with the ‘Le Folauga’ exhibition.

‘Hand in Hand’ group exhibition in Tasmania, Australia

‘Hand in Hand’ is a group exhibition which explores the experiences of indigenous and ‘queer’ artists from Australia and the Pacific, curated by Jenny Fraser and Shigeyuki Kihara.

The ‘Hand in Hand’ exhibition was formerly staged at Performance Space and Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative - both venues based in Sydney – earlier this year.

The ‘Hand in Hand’ exhibition recently toured to the University of Tasmania Plimsoll Gallery, Tasmania, Australia.

The artists that were featured in the touring exhibition included:
Jenny Fraser
Dianne Jones
Shigeyuki Kihara
Tracey Moffatt
Claudine Sartain
Dan Taulapapa McMullin
Salote Tawale
Niwhai Tupaea
Adrian Wills

The exhibition sadly ended on 3 October 2008, however there are various other venues currently in discussion for touring within Australia – so watch this space!

‘Assume Nothing’ exhibition touring Aotearoa New Zealand

Assume Nothing is intended to challenge perceptions about gender identity.

The touring exhibition is based on the book of the same name published by artist and photographer Rebecca Swan in 2004. The exhibition features photographs and interviews with more than 20 people from New Zealand. They include such well-known personalities as former MP, Georgina Beyer – the world’s first transgender politician – and flamboyant performer Carmen Rupe, as well as activist and educator Mani Bruce Mitchell.

A collaborative work made between myself and Rebecca Swan is included in Rebecca’s touring exhibition which begins at Toi Rerehiko Moving Image Centre, Auckland, New Zealand opening on 23 January 2009.

The exhibition also features an accompanying documentary entitled ‘Assume Nothing’ by Kirsty McDonald from New Zealand, where I’m also featured discussing my collaborative work in Rebecca’s exhibition.

Kirsty McDonald will arrive in NYC in the next couple of days with her cameraman Chris Carter to document my work at the Met for an upcoming arts program ‘Kete Aronui’ to air on Maori Television in New Zealand later this year.

The touring venues and dates for ‘Assume Nothing’ are as follows:

‘Assume Nothing’
23.01.09 – 19.02.09
Toi Rerehiko Moving Image Centre
Auckland, New Zealand
www.mic.org.nz

‘Assume Nothing’
28.02.09 – 07.06.09
Te Manawa Museum Gallery & Science Centre
Palmerston North, New Zealand
www.temanawa.co.nz

‘Assume Nothing’
04.07.09 – 06.09.09
Canterbury Museum
Christchurch, New Zealand
www.canterburymuseum.com

‘Assume Nothing’
31.10.09 – 06.02.10
Waikato Museum of Art and History
Hamilton, New Zealand
www.waikatomuseum.org.nz

New York side events…

While in New York, Shigeyuki will be giving other talks hosted by these great institutions – sorry, not open to the public:

October 9
New York University
www.nyu.edu

October 10
Parsons The New School For Design
www.parsons.newschool.edu

November 6
CREA New York
www.creaworld.org

Shigeyuki Kihara Solo Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

‘Shigeyuki Kihara: Living Photographs’
October 7, 2008 – February 1, 2009
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Lila Acheson Wallace Wing, 1st floor
1000 Fifth Avenue. New York, New York 10028, USA
www.metmuseum.org

Special Events held in association with the exhibition:

Sunday at the Met – ‘Taualuga; the last dance’
Live performance by Shigeyuki Kihara
October 19, 2008, 3pm
The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium

‘Taualuga; the last dance’ – An Artist’s Talk
Artist talk by Shigeyuki Kihara
October 25, 2008, 7pm
Bonnie J. Sacerdote Lecture Hall, Uris Center for Education

A full exhibition schedule for ‘Shigeyuki Kihara: Living Photographs’ can be viewed at www.metmuseum.org.