Exhibition honours Pacific matriarchy of Porirua
17 Jul 2026, Rachel Healy
This article first appeared in The Post on 14 July 2026
This article first appeared in The Post on 14 July 2026
The Pātaka exhibition Marama Malama: Te Manavā Moana Women honours Pacific women’s leadership and marks 50 years of the national organisation P.A.C.I.F.I.C.A Inc. Curated by Jacki Leota-Mua with the P.A.C.I.F.I.C.A. Whitireia branch, the exhibition sits alongside a series of lightboxes in the Porirua CBD that also feature Jacinta Mauga’s portraits of women who have shaped the city through community service. Together, the women photographed represent twelve Pacific language groups.
Jacinta, who is a member of the P.A.C.I.F.I.C.A. Inc Whitireia branch, says she feels connected to the mama’s work through her dad, the late Father Petelo Mauga, a Porirua social worker, “I loved photographing these women and learned so much from them – they are all still so busy; they just haven’t stopped thriving,” she says, “I wanted to celebrate these mamas as loud and proud as possible”.
Central to Jacinta’s approach was the time she spent with each woman before picking up the camera. The process was shared and flexible with some women preferring to be photographed with others, including Kalisi Pou Viliamu-Hope (image above) who was captured alongside her five sisters, one whom has since passed away. Kalisi is a leader in the Tokelau community and led Young P.A.C.I.F.I.C.A in the 1980s, a springboard for her lifelong service including through Porirua Pacific Island Stop Abuse, programmes supporting unemployed women and Te Hou Ora for at risk youth. Kalisi is Deputy Principal at Brandon Intermediate, where she’s led a Tokelau language programme for over a decade.
Featured leaders include the president of PACIFICA Inc Whitirea branch Lēo’o Jenny Taotua O’Carroll (above), who is of Samoan and Tongan descent and has spent her life serving Porirua and empowering Pacific youth. Lēo’o carries a malu – a sacred Samoan tattoo worn by women of rank – reflecting her esteemed role in Samoan society. Jacinta took her image on Whitireia maunga in honour of mana whenua, Ngāti Toa Rangatira.
Other women include Matua Fifine Motuhele Tukunui Pahetogia (pictured above), known as Nena Motu, is a Niuean master weaver who’s spent eight decades preserving and teaching weaving traditions, mentoring new generations and contributing to cultural revitalisation. Jacinta photographed her at home in Waitangirua with her woven iliili fan, pulou hat and potu mat. The hiapo (bark cloth) draped across her chair was made by her granddaughter Maryanne Lapana and members of Niutupu Pulapulaola, a local Niuean arts collective. [include portrait of Nene Motu]
Siuga‑O‑Fao Maria Paula Masoe is a social worker, unionist and activist who draws inspiration from her family’s involvement in Samoa’s independence movement, the Mau. She became an advocate for workers’ rights, Pacific communities and social justice.
Teremoana O-Maua-Hodges KSM is an educator, researcher and champion of Cook Islands language, culture and education. Along with another mama featured in the project, Te-Tua-O-Terai Akaiti Eitiare-Samuel, Teremoana is a founding member of Tipurepure ‘Au Vaine, a Porirua collective of Cook Islands women who have met every Thursday since 2019 to stitch, teach and preserve tīvaivai, traditional Cook Islands quilting.
Alongside these portraits and others is an oral history project led by Pātaka curator Jacki Leota-Mua. Jacki recorded “the stories, songs, chants, oratory and prayers of our mamas, marama, matua fifine and nei, Moana matriarchal leaders, makers and knowledge holders who have served Porirua with fierce dedication”.
Jacki says Pacific histories were traditionally “written” on tapa cloth, tattooed on skin, lashed with sennit (woven fibres) or chanted, sung and orated, “The oral history format aligns beautifully,” she says. “I loved listening to the women’s Indigenous wisdom and strong sense of social justice. Hearing their connection and commitment to the community was a joy. They are the matriarchy embodied! There is much to learn, and I hope visitors will be inspired to take the time with their own elders and learn from them. Even the mundane and ordinary is filled with mischief, magic and metaphor!”
Jacki acknowledges the mahi of her colleague, curator Georgie Keyse, during the installation of Marama Malama: Te Manavā Moana Women, which continues at Pātaka Art+Museum until 16 August.
