Ake Lianga (born 1975 on

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...

) is a

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

screen printer and

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

, who has "gained recognition for paintings and murals throughout

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

"."Alcheringa show bridges Pacific"
''Times Colonist'', November 6, 2010 After schooling, Lianga became self-employed as a sign painter and

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

artist. In 1995, he won the South Pacific Contemporary Art Competition. In 1996, he won the Commonwealth Arts and Crafts award for painting, and began studying at

North Island College North Island College (NIC) North Island College (NIC), is a community college located primarily on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Starting as a distance educational institution in the 1970’s, NIC has grown to a comprehensive post ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He graduated in

Fine Arts In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

in 1999. During his final semester, he was hired by the College to teach

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed techniq ...

to first year students. He married in 2001 and, as of 2007, lives in Canada. His work was exhibited at the

Comox Valley The Comox Valley is a region on the east coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, that includes the city of Courtenay, British Columbia, Courtenay, the town of Comox, British Columbia, Comox, the village of Cumberland, British Columb ...

Art Gallery in 1998, at the

Alcheringa Gallery Alcheringa Gallery is an art gallery in Victoria, British Columbia. The gallery produces four to six new exhibitions every year, supplemented by ongoing new works by gallery artists. It was one of the first galleries to make use of the internet i ...

in 2001, and at the

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

's Department of Fine Arts in 2007. Lianga's art has also been featured on the cover of the autumn 2004 edition of ''

The Contemporary Pacific ''The Contemporary Pacific: A Journal of Island Affairs'' is an academic journal covering a wide range of disciplines with the aim of providing comprehensive coverage of contemporary developments in the entire Pacific Islands region, including Mel ...

''. In 2010, Alcheringa Gallery set up "Pacific Connections, a cross-cultural collaboration featuring Ake Lianga ..and John Marston, a

Coast Salish The Coast Salish is a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak one of the Coas ...

carver from the

Chemainus Chemainus is a community within the municipality of North Cowichan in the Chemainus Valley on the east coast of southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Founded as an unincorporated logging town in 1858, Chemainus is now famous ...

First Nation". Carol Ivory, chair of the Department of Fine Arts at Washington State University, has described Lianga's work as follows:

Lianga looks both backwards and forwards, bringing mythology, history and the contemporary world together in riveting works of art. ..Lianga's artwork often engages with significant issues arising from post-colonial situations, creating works that can be described as both visually appealing and emotionally powerful.

Lianga was a

guest speaker Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech deliver ...

at Washington State University in 2007.

References

External links

Lianga's official website
with examples of his work

exhibited at the

1975 births Living people Solomon Islands painters People from Guadalcanal Province {{painter-stub