Talanoa: Walk the Talk III & IV stills now online

The photographic documentation of the Talanoa: Walk the Talk III & IV performances held in Sydney can now be viewed online, courtesy of photographer Susannah Wimberley.

Both performances were filmed and are currently in the process of editing. The final version will be presented as a moving image work, to be featured in a group exhibition at the Campbelltown Arts Centre Sydney opening on the 28th November 2009.

Assume Nothing showing at QueerDOC 2009

The ‘Assume Nothing’ film will be screened as part of the Queer DOC film festival in Sydney on 9th September 2009.

Directed by filmmaker Kirsty MacDonald, ‘Assume Nothing’ is also a finalist in the Qantas Film and Television Awards for Best Arts/Festival/Feature – Documentary!

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…

Talanoa: Walk the Talk III

Shigeyuki Kihara has collaborated with the Mukti Gupteshar Mandir Society and the Congregational Christian Church Samoa to present Talanoa: Walk the Talk III, a work that explores cross-cultural relationships within communities.

The latest performance is happening in Minto, Sydney on Saturday 8 August from 10.30am.

‘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!