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Ono'u Festival 2016 - Tahiti & Ra'iātea

    WOW is the easiest word to describe the past few weeks! We had the amazing privilege of attending the Ono'u Tahiti Festival in Papeete for one week & then over to Ra'iātea for a further 6 days. As Māori descendants the significance of travelling to such a special place was indescribable. Ancestors spoke of the great navigators who courageously left the shores of the island out in the pacific towards greater opportunities. Taputapuātea marae was the most important of these places to visit & we had the honour of attending a ceremony with last remaining kaumatua of the area.

    Our art practise although made up of a lot of paint, is at the core about transforming spaces & communities. The murals we painted were completely different in conceptualisation but equally important & significant parts of our heart. Honour, awareness, support, understanding, each wall was a statement of the things closest to our hearts. The first large wall is of the Ōmāma'o (Tahitian Monarch) that is critically endangered, we wanted to support Manu SOP in the efforts to bringing awareness to this beautiful manu with only approximately 50 specimens remaining. The second wall was a collaboration with the amazingly talented artist Askew who painted the portrait of Viliamu Tupaia the oldest living relative of the great navigator Tupaia who travelled to Aotearoa with Captain Cook. We can't thank Sara & Jean enough for their passion to bring creativity to French Polynesia & for inviting us to attend!

     

    Oxford - South Island

      45 minutes west of Christchurch lies the quaint little township of Oxford & few weeks back we had the privilege of travelling down to paint a collaboration wall with 5 year old Titus. Now how cool is that, parents who would fly down 2 artists to hang out at the school you help manage to paint your sons artwork with theirs! James & Carolyn (parents to 4 great kids) invited us to paint & also teach at their school, it included some personal development sessions, dream sessions & the power of creativity. Over 2 sunny winter South Island days we finally got to the end & had a mural blessing with the staff/students. It was such a powerful time because the mural itself reminded us about keeping a childlike attitude towards life. Stopping to smell the flowers, enjoy the sun, embrace your creativity & at times paint outside of the lines ;)

      The Hihi (Stitchbird) are found only on offshore islands up in the North but we introduced the species to the South that week. Meaning 'rays of the sun', Titus drew his artwork with that in mind. The end product was a mural painted by the son of the managerial team there at YWAM and we titled the piece 'Rays of the Son'. We can't wait to paint again, watch this space for a colab with our talented & creative son Azzy coming soon.

       

      Our adopted Kākāpo

        In 2015 we painted a large 2.4m2 cube in Aotea Square for Auckland Artweek. The outcome of selling those paintings was to raise funds to donate to a charity of our choice. We wanted to find an organisation who works closely with our endemic birds & found the Kākāpo Recovery programme who are doing great things down in the South Island of New Zealand.

        By the 1970s only 18 birds were known to exist. A group of passionate volunteers & Department of Conservation workers began their effort to protect, manage & grow the population after the discovery of a population in 1977 on Stewart Island.

        Here we are in 2016 & there are still only 150 birds in existence! Our passion is to use our art to bring awareness to our endemic/native birdlife, to the local communities & the work of the great volunteers who are passionate about the same things as us. We adopted Kuia & will be looking at ways to continue this on a greater level in the future. Our dream would be to paint a large mural down where she lives so fingers crossed someone can help to make that a reality. Also if you would like to support the great work they are doing head to the web address below!

        Name: Kuia (old wise woman), Ngāti Kuia Iwi of Maud Island

        Hatched: 3 March 1998

        Mother: Flossie

        Father: Richard Henry

         
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