Taloi Havini, work in progress, archives, 2023. Courtesy of the artist
Photo Credit
U sunu niniga pan i tamlam i tamlemu ri Aotearoa, Nigantoana With loving greetings from our people to your people of Aotearoa
U tsiki tsiki a nitotoa pipito haniga bei a amasala tru binaka ni mamur LAND IS LIFE — to keep and care for, to inherit and pass on to the next generation
Taloi Havini (Nakas Tribe, Hakö people) is a contemporary artist who currently lives and works from Brisbane, Australia. She was born in Arawa, Autonomous Region of Bougainville, moving as a child to Sydney in 1990, when her family was forced to flee the escalating conflict between Bougainville and Papua New Guinea. Working in political exile, her parents Moses and Marilyn Havini continued in their struggles for self-determination for Bougainville.
Shared Aspirations has developed through Taloi’s continued studio-based engagement with her homeland. The exhibition focuses on processes of negotiation, delving further into how these transactions occur. The artist chooses to reconcile with archives inherited from her parents that document the turbulence of the 1960s and 70s pro-secessionist movements, participation in Bougainville ceasefire talks held at Burnham Military Camp in 1997, transitions towards a constitution and the wider peace process. Responding to the public/private nature of these archives and moving between the scenarios of a formal negotiation table, a casual side-event, family living room, and a village court reconciliation process Taloi provides a familial lens for viewing Bougainville’s recent history. The artist has developed the exhibition in collaboration with her mother Marilyn, honouring the depth of her studio practice in the village of Ngalkobul, Buka. Marilyn’s recent paintings introduce viewers to her lived experience including sites of historical significance.
Together, they trace a journey of environmental degradation and unresolved conflict – bringing into sharp focus the contrast between root causes of conflict and the picturesque beauty of Bougainville. Situating this exhibition in Ōtepoti honours the role that Aotearoa New Zealand played in the steps that led to a peaceful resolution of the conflict and revisits these ongoing relationships between communities across the Pacific.
Read the full Te Reo exhibition text here.
U sunu niniga pan i tamlam i tamlemu ri Aotearoa, Nigantoana With loving greetings from our people to your people of Aotearoa
U tsiki tsiki a nitotoa pipito haniga bei a amasala tru binaka ni mamur LAND IS LIFE — to keep and care for, to inherit and pass on to the next generation
Taloi Havini (Nakas Tribe, Hakö people) is a contemporary artist who currently lives and works from Brisbane, Australia. She was born in Arawa, Autonomous Region of Bougainville, moving as a child to Sydney in 1990, when her family was forced to flee the escalating conflict between Bougainville and Papua New Guinea. Working in political exile, her parents Moses and Marilyn Havini continued in their struggles for self-determination for Bougainville.
Shared Aspirations has developed through Taloi’s continued studio-based engagement with her homeland. The exhibition focuses on processes of negotiation, delving further into how these transactions occur. The artist chooses to reconcile with archives inherited from her parents that document the turbulence of the 1960s and 70s pro-secessionist movements, participation in Bougainville ceasefire talks held at Burnham Military Camp in 1997, transitions towards a constitution and the wider peace process. Responding to the public/private nature of these archives and moving between the scenarios of a formal negotiation table, a casual side-event, family living room, and a village court reconciliation process Taloi provides a familial lens for viewing Bougainville’s recent history. The artist has developed the exhibition in collaboration with her mother Marilyn, honouring the depth of her studio practice in the village of Ngalkobul, Buka. Marilyn’s recent paintings introduce viewers to her lived experience including sites of historical significance.
Together, they trace a journey of environmental degradation and unresolved conflict – bringing into sharp focus the contrast between root causes of conflict and the picturesque beauty of Bougainville. Situating this exhibition in Ōtepoti honours the role that Aotearoa New Zealand played in the steps that led to a peaceful resolution of the conflict and revisits these ongoing relationships between communities across the Pacific.
Read the full Te Reo exhibition text here.
