New video works explore what it means to return to an ancestral homeland.
In 2023, Tāmaki Makaurau-based artists Edith Amituanai (Aotearoa, Sāmoa) and Sione Tuívailala Monū (Aotearoa, Australia, Tonga) travelled to Sāmoa to celebrate a friend participating in the Miss Sāmoa Fa‘afafine Pageant. They also visited Amituanai’s family, including her Aunt Vaimoe who had recently returned to Sāmoa after several decades living in the United States.
In these new video works, commissioned by Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, Amituanai and Tuívailala Monū share their own kind of “return”, through personal stories, exchanges and tender moments of everyday life. They explore some of the ways the Pacific diaspora maintain their identity and culture after migration to countries like Aotearoa, Australia and the United States. Tuívailala Monū is also interested in the long histories of rivalry and familial connection between Tonga and Sāmoa.
The title, Toloa Tales, references a Sāmoan proverb – “e lele le toloa ae ma‘au lava i le vai” – about the toloa (duck) that flies far but will always return to water. It suggests that no matter how far one journeys, there is always a desire to come home.
Curated by Chloe Cull and Melanie Oliver of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū.
Image: Sione Tuívailala Monū, Lanu Moana is the Warmest Colour, 2024 and Edith Amituanai, Vaimoe, 2024. Single-channel videos. Courtesy of the artists.
