This story is part of the Creative Wellbeing series, a partnership between Creative New Zealand and All Right? that shines a light on the transformative wellbeing and hauora benefits that arts, culture and creativity provide. You can read the whole series here.

As someone who writes about Pacific art, I often get asked – okay but what’s art got to do with life? The subtext reading that the arts are additional (rather than essential) to contemporary Pacific life - an extra nice to have.  

However, what people don’t realise is that in Aotearoa, the arts (next to sports) is one of the only areas in which Pacific people do not exist in the deficit. Unlike areas such as education, housing, health, median income, or incarceration where Pacific people are highly represented in negative ways, in the creative sectors Pacific people are thriving and in the last few years we’ve seen Pacific people lead these conversations too. And that’s telling us something. 

This year alone, Pacific artists from Aotearoa are making some of the world’s biggest stages home. Last month visual artist Yuki Kihara (Samoan, Japanese), opened the exhibition Paradise Camp at the Venice Biennial, the world’s most sought-after visual arts stage.

In June, FAFSWAG, a Moana Oceania collective which celebrates queer brown bodies, will present at documenta fifteen, an illustrious exhibition which takes place in Germany every five years. Both Kihara and FAFSWAG, will be amongst the Pacific artists from New Zealand in these spaces.

And to make it a trifecta, also in June Black Grace dance company lead by Neil Ieremia (Samoan) will embark on a US tour including to Jacob’s Pillow, one of the world’s most prestigious contemporary dance festivals. 

While those who reach the greatest heights of their artform are the ones that become the most visible, they are just the tip of the iceberg. Pacific artists and creatives are killing it right now. And they have been for a while, on a continued upward trajectory, both here in local spaces as well as making their presence known on huge international stages. Perhaps, a correction of historical underrepresentation. 

Creative practice and the arts have always been made by Pacific people – our mats, our buildings, our songs, our markings have always existed, they are our histories, and they hold our worldviews. And for Pacific communities here in Aotearoa, the arts are one place where people can connect with others and their cultures in ways which support individual and collective wellbeing. Creative sectors offer a pathway for artists to connect, find, strengthen their identity from a Pacific perspective.

The value of the arts for the Pacific Peoples’ wellbeing was one of the findings in the 2020 New Zealanders and the Arts — Ko Aotearoa me ōna Toi research, which found that forty-four percent of Pacific peoples feel that the arts are important to their personal wellbeing. 

The research included an open-ended question about why people felt art was important to their wellbeing, the Pacific respondents commented that it “provides Pacific peoples with a source of self-expression, cultural recognition and representation. Some respondents talked about the therapeutic benefits of the arts and associated positive impacts on mental health.” 

For Gina Cole (Fijian, Scottish and Welsh) author of Black Ice Matter and the much-anticipated science fiction novel Na Viro, her creative work is a source of self-expression free from judgement. 

“As an Indigenous Fijian person, the freedom to express myself on the page has an incredibly positive impact on my wellbeing in so many ways — mentally, psychologically, spiritually.” 

Similarly for Keva Rands (Fiji, Hawai'i, Samoa, Penrhyn, Scotland, Ireland, England), founder of Papa Clothing, clothing design provides a safe space to explore her culture, which positively impacts on her wellbeing as a Pasifika person. 

The New Zealanders and the Arts research also found that 64% of Pacific people agreed that they learn about Pacific culture “through Pacific arts and 65% agree that it helps define who we are as New Zealanders. Importantly, 56% of Pacific peoples agree that Pacific arts improves how they feel about life in general.” 

So much of our wellbeing is connected to our sense of self, in the Pacific diaspora that includes cultural identity, paths for expression and a sense of belonging. According to the research, Pacific peoples are more likely than all New Zealanders to feel the arts are an important way of connecting with their culture (71% vs. 54% overall) and supporting their identity (49% vs. 37%).

Photographer Raymond Sagapolutele’s (Samoan) own experience reflects this, he is assured that his art practice, especially of the last decade has reconnected him with his Samoan heritage and provided “clarity as to what this means as a Samoan born and raised in Aotearoa.” 

Sagapolutele continues, “A lot of this probably would not have come about without the time and maturity to understand the influences and challenges that have helped form my current art practice. Strength in this context is the result of enduring and growing from what life has thrown at me and what I have been able to manifest as visual art conclusions.”

Rands too has been able to learn more about her Pacific cultures through her creative practice, “I've been able to educate myself on traditional garments worn across the pacific, I've learnt language to play around with the naming of my work, for example the Lewa top named after the Fijian word for girl and the Ulu print hoodie series inspired by a photograph I took of a breadfruit tree in Sāmoa. The more aspects of my culture that I can incorporate into my work, the more connected I feel to my whakapapa.”

Initially, Rands “was a bit shy” about exploring certain aspects of her culture, however since having feedback from the community, Rands is producing more work that overtly reflects her culture. “The response is always really positive when Pasifika people get to see themselves reflected through and considered in designs and campaigns. Representation matters.”

For Sagapolutele, it took decades to fully understand the impact and benefit of his art making on his wellbeing. “Initially, it was a way for me to express myself but over time this has given way to the realisation that it is also my way of understanding the way I see the world and how I am connected to it.” 

Art as a vehicle to understanding the world is something commonly found in the work and thinking of many people and is something which is particularly important for those who may otherwise not see themselves reflected in the dominant society. Sagapolutele continues, “Visual art has gone from being an outlet for my creative drive to helping me see the world with the perspective shifts that have driven the visual language I have been experimenting with as a lens-based artist and storyteller.” 

The importance of perspective and telling our own stories is echoed by Cole. “As an Indigenous Fijian queer woman writer I feel it is so important that we Indigenous peoples tell our own stories so that we can put forward our perspective and experience. Perspective is everything. I think you can tell an engaging story and draw people into your perspective and canvas broad social issues like racism and colonialism, almost by stealth. Like ninja storytelling. It may be a perspective that people have no other way of accessing except through story.” 

When I ask Cole if her arts practice has strengthened her identity, Cole flips the question saying, “my identity strengthens my writing practice.” 

When I look at and see all the Pacific art on show today, Cole’s statement rings true. While one’s creative work strengthens our wellbeing and identity as Pacific people, we can’t forget that our identity too strengthens our art. 

‍This story is part of the Creative Wellbeing series, a partnership between Creative New Zealand and All Right? that shines a light on the transformative wellbeing and hauora benefits that arts, culture and creativity provide. You can read the whole series here.