Pacific Sisters is a collective of

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

and

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

artists, performers, fashion designers, jewellers and musicians.

Establishment and early years

The collective was formed in 1992 by Selina Forsyth ( Samoan) Niwhai Tupaea (Ngāti Katoa) and Suzanne Tamaki ( Tūhoe,

Te Arawa Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori iwi and hapu (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the Arawa migration canoe (''waka'').Ngāti Maniapoto Ngāti Maniapoto is an iwi (tribe) based in the Waikato-Waitomo region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the Tainui confederation, the members of which trace their whakapapa (genealogy) back to people who arrived in New Zealand on th ...

). The sisterhood also includes

Rosanna Raymond Rosanna Marie Raymond (born 1967) is a New Zealand artist, poet, and cultural commentator and Raymond was recognised for "Pasifika artists practicing contemporary and heritage art forms in Aotearoa," winning the Senior Pacific Artist Award Winn ...

(Samoan), Feeonaa Wall (Samoan),

Ani O'Neill Ani O'Neill (born 1971) is a New Zealand artist of Cook Island (Ngati Makea, Ngati Te Tika) and Irish descent. She has been described by art historian Karen Stevenson as one of the core members of a group of artists of Pasifika descent who bro ...

(

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

Lisa Reihana Lisa Marie Reihana (born 1964) is a New Zealand artist. Her video work, ''In Pursuit of Venus nfected' (2015), which examines early encounters between Polynesians and European explorers, was featured at the 2017 Venice Biennale. Early life ...

( Ngā Puhi), Jaunnie Ilolahia ( Tongan) and is inclusive of Pacific Soles: Henry Taripo (Cook Islands) and Karlos Quartez (Cook Islands) and Greg Semu (Samoan). Throughout the 1990s Pacific Sisters collaborated in the production of fashion shows, art performances and musical events. Karen Stevenson, author of ''The Frangipani is Dead: Contemporary Pacific Art in New Zealand'' writes, “Challenging the established art canon, The Pacific Sisters combined costume, tradition, dance and the catwalk with the energetic rhythms of hip hop”. The Sisters created a stage for expression of urban Māori and Pacific identity within New Zealand, as Jacqueline Charles Rault wrote ‘The Pacific Sisters were and remain provocative, sexy and rebellious’ In 1994 Pacific Sisters performed at the Auckland Art Gallery for the opening of ''Bottled Ocean'', curated by Jim Vivieaere. In 1996 the Sisters were invited and also received funding from

Creative New Zealand The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand) is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government, investing in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes and developing markets ...

to perform in Samoa for the seventh

Festival of Pacific Arts The Festival of Pacific Arts, Pacific Arts Festival, or FESTPAC is a traveling festival hosted every four years, in the same year as the Summer Olympics, by a different country in Oceania ( map). It was conceived by the Pacific Community (former ...

: Tala Measina. They developed ''Motu Tangata,'' a contemporary realisation of the narrative of Ina/Hina and Tuna. The festival abstained from officially hosting ''Motu Tangata'', aware of the implications a contemporary style of performance such as ''Motu Tangata'' could have at an event that celebrated customary practices from the Pacific. For two consecutive nights however, the Sisters performed ''Motu Tangata'' at the Hotel Kitano Tusitala. In 1998 their performance ''Tribe Vibe and the Extended Family Mix'' was selected as part of Sydney's Pacific Wave Festival. 1998 also saw their work exhibited in ''Tūrangawaewae'', the 3rd New Zealand Jewellery Biennale at The Dowse and in ''Raw Fish'', at The Physics Room in Christchurch. In 2000 Pacific Sisters performed at the opening of the

Biennale of Sydney The Biennale of Sydney is an international festival of contemporary art, held every two years in Sydney, Australia. It is a large and well-attended contemporary visual arts event in the country. Alongside the Venice and São Paulo biennales and ...

in collaboration with Lisa Reihana.

Recent years

In 2011 Pacific Sisters reunited to present ''Pacific Sisters SOUTHSIDE: EyeKonik'' at the Mangere Arts Centre – Ngā Tohu o Uenuku as part of the 2011 Pacific Arts Summit. Their work ''21st Century Cyber Sister'' is held in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. In March 2018 Te Papa opened its new art spaces, Toi Art. The opening exhibition included ''Pacific Sisters: Fashion Activists'', "a celebration of mana wāhine, indigenous identities, and the role this collective has played over the past 26 years – through their collaborative works across fashion, performance, music, and film – in giving voice and visibility to Māori and Pacific peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand," curated by Nina Tonga. This exhibition toured to the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmiki between Sat 23 Feb 2019 — Sun 14 Jul 2019 and provoked the following thought in an essay on the

Auckland University , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

digital platform ''Perspective'' in response to the question: In what ways does the Pacific Sisters’ ‘fashion activism’ challenge pre-existing ideas of identity and gender?: "The Pacific Sisters’ “fashion activism” embraces hybridity to challenge the ways in which pākehā hegemony has determined their identity, by creating new dress forms and rituals that reflect urban diasporic reality, and reinforcing agency over their own gender representation." Kate Harris

References

{{Authority control Māori art New Zealand fashion Oceanian art New Zealand fashion designers New Zealand women fashion designers New Zealand artist groups and collectives

Establishment and early years

Recent years

Further reading

References