Shigeyuki Kihara
Shigeyuki Kihara is of Samoan descent working in visual and performance art disciplines.
Kihara’s work is based on an investigative research relating to the indigenous cultures of the Pacific – and more specifically to Samoan culture, history and spirituality – pointing to how its principles can be applied to her urban environment in Auckland, New Zealand and Sydney, Australia, where she currently resides.
Kihara is the recipient of the Emerging Pacific Artist Award from Creative New Zealand Arts Council of New Zealand in 2003, and she is also the recipient of the Artist in Residence program hosted by the Physics Room Contemporary Art Space in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2007.
Kihara has exhibited widely internationally with solo exhibitions including: ‘Fa’a fafine; in a manner of a woman’ 2005 held at ARTSPACE, Auckland, New Zealand and Sherman Galleries, Sydney, Australia; and ‘Vavau; tales of ancient Samoa’ 2004 at The Gus Fisher Gallery, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Kihara’s solo exhibition entitled ‘Shigeyuki Kihara; Living Photographs’ curated by Virginia-Lee Webb is being held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, opening in October 2008.
Kihara has participated in international group exhibitions of significance including: ‘More or Less’, Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, 2001; ‘Fashion Now’, Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, 2002; 4th AsiaPacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 2003; ‘Telecom Prospect; New Art New Zealand’, City Gallery Wellington, 2004; ‘Asia Traffic’, Shanghai Zendai Museum of Modern Art, 2005; ‘Masquerade; Representation and the Self in Contemporary Art’, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2006; ‘Le Folauga’, Auckland Museum, 2007; ‘Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf’, Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts, Auckland, 2007; ‘Pasifika Styles’, University of Cambridge Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, UK, 2007;‘Transient forces; Asian Attitudes’, National Museum of Poznan, Warsaw, 2007; ‘Samoa Contemporary’, Pataka, Wellington, 2008; and ‘Dateline Returns; Contemporary Art from the Pacific’, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth in 2008.
As a performance artist Kihara has performed her solo performance ‘Taualuga; the last dance’ in venues including; 4th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, Australia; Haus der Kulteren der Welt, Berlin; Musee du quai Branly in Paris and the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand.
Kihara’s curatorial practice includes ‘Hand in Hand’, a group exhibition co-curated with Jenny Fraser, which was held at Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative and Performance Space, Sydney, Australia, and funded by Creative New Zealand Arts Council of New Zealand. ‘Hand in Hand’ recently toured to the University of Tasmania Plimsoll Gallery, Tasmania, Australia.
Examples of Kihara’s work can be found in public collections including:
- Auckland Art Gallery (NZ)
- Waikato Museum of Art and History (NZ)
- The Gus Fisher Gallery, University of Auckland (NZ)
- Massey University (NZ)
- Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand
- University of Cambridge Museum of Archeology and Anthropology (UK)
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, USA)
- Museum of Contemporary Art (Sydney, Australia)
- Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation (Sydney, Australia)
A comprehensive list of exhibitions is available on request.
