Shigeyuki Kihara on Kete Aronui

Maori Television’s Kete Aronui is an art show featuring artists from all around Aotearoa and covering all disciplines. From music, carvers, performers, weavers, painters, sculptors, film makers, theatre and multimedia, Kete Aronui is at the heart of indigenous art.

An upcoming episode directed by Kirsty MacDonald features Shigeyuki Kihara and her work.

ethKnowcentrix exhibition opens at October Gallery, London

The long-awaited opening of the ‘ethKnowcentrix: Museums Inside the Artist’ group exhibition, featuring works by Lisa Reihana, Rosanna Raymond, George Nuku and Shigeyuki Kihara, finally opens with a Polynesian welcome ceremony and opening reception on 9 September, at October Gallery in London!

Look out for the Artist Forum at the October Gallery on 12 September featuring an exciting line-up of international artist presentations including:
Isaac Julian
Malika Booker
Noel Wallas
Raimi Gbadamosi
Lisa Reihana
Rosanna Raymond
George Nuku
Shigeyuki Kihara

Find out more about the ethKnowcentrix Artists’ Forum. Also – look out for the catalogue accompanying the exhibition!

For more information please visit: www.octobergallery.co.uk

Talanoa: Walk the Talk IV

If in Sydney, you’re warmly invited to the last and final public performance of Talanoa: Walk the Talk IV featuring Ingleburn RSL Club, Campbelltown Community Pipes and Drums, Wuruniri Music and Dance and Shigeyuki Kihara held at 12pm, Redfern Community Centre, located in Redfern, Sydney, Australia.

Shigeyuki explains Talanoa: Walk the Talk IV

Talanoa: Walk the Talk IV is a free public performance at Redfern Community Centre, Sydney, Australia on Saturday 15 August 2009, from 12pm. Featuring: Wuruniri Music and Dance; Ingleburn RSL Club & Campbelltown Community Pipes and Drums.

During my seven-week residency hosted by the Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney I am staging the Talanoa: Walk the Talk III & IV in August 2009, at selected venues throughout Sydney. ‘Talanoa’ is a Samoan term used to describe the process of dialogue between two parties coming together in finding mutual ground through the exchange of ideas.

About Talanoa:

Samoan-born multimedia and performance artist Shigeyuki Kihara works in partnership with four performance groups with distinctive cultures and styles to come together in an intercultural dialogue – a ‘talanoa’ by staging live collaborative public performances held in locations situated throughout Sydney, Australia.

The documentation of all the ‘Talanoa’ performances (I – IV) will be presented as moving image artworks featured in an upcoming group exhibition entitled ‘What do you think about when you dance?’ – exploring the intersection between dance and contemporary art – curated by dance curator Emma Saunders, held at the Campbelltown Arts Centre opening on 28 November 2009 until January 2010.

Previous performances of Talanoa: Walk the Talk I & II were commissioned by the Auckland City Council, New Zealand and held in April 2009.

I would like to thank the members of Mukti Gupteshwar Mandir Society and the Samoa Congregational Church Minto for their performances in Talanoa: Walk the Talk III which took place at the Minto Mall in Sydney on 8 August. You could see Lord Shiva and Jesus Christ were both present side by side engaging in spirit, through a touching performance…

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.

Going to the USA

I have an upcoming solo exhibition entitled ‘Shigeyuki Kihara: Living Photography’ curated by Virginia-Lee Webb held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York opening on the 7th October 2008, ending 1st February 2009.

I will be traveling over to New York city in late September for the official opening reception held on the 7th October and will be based there for five weeks.

During my time at The Met I will be participating in various public programes held in association with my exhibition. My solo performance entitled ‘Taualuga: the last dance’ is held on the 19th October 2008 and my artist talk is held on the 25th October 2008. If your time allows, I would love to see you there!

Apart from my work commitments with The Met I also have speaking engagements in New York at venues including the Parsons School of Design, New York University and CREA – a women’s human rights organisation.

During my time in the USA, a publication entitled ‘Role Models: Feminine Identity in Contemporary American Photography’ will be launched at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC in October 2008, where my work is discussed in a chapter written by Associate Arts Professor Shelley Rice from NYU.

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.