EMILY MULI 

SONGWRITER / MUSICIAN, PUBLIC SERVANT & SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCATE

TONGAN 

Mālō e lelei! I'm a proud ta'ahine of Moana Oceania hailing from the beautiful Kingdom of Tonga. My dad is from the village of Fua'amotu and my mum from the village of Kanokupolu. I was born and raised in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa, and am a songwriter/musician, public servant and social justice advocate. 

You've been opening for Aaradhna on her NZ tour this year - can you tell us how that came about and how you've found it? 
Connections! One of my closest muso brothers has been Aaradhna's keys player since last year, and he called me in February asking if I was keen to be one of her backing vocalists! I definitely did a double take and asked if he was sure (lol), but it was a huge honour.…more

SHAKAIAH PEREZ 

MULTI DIMENSIONAL ARTIST

AFRO POLYNESIAN 

My name is Shakaiah Perez and I am a multi disciplinary artist of Afro Polynesian descent originally from Whanganui but raised in West Auckland. My work as an artist includes visual arts such as videography and photography which is layered with movement, performance and poetry. 

On my mother’s side I am Māori, Tahitian and Marquesan and on my father’s side I am Samoan, Tokelauan, Cape Verdean and Afro Portuguese. My heritage has a major influence on my work as an artist with hopes to encourage and inspire other people of colour by sharing our stories and re-writing the narrative that western society has written about us.…more

BEAU TAKAPU 

FASHION DESIGNER / PROJECT RUNWAY CONTESTANT 

TONGAN 

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I’m a Tongan who actually grew up in the sparkling city streets of San Francisco. I originally studied there, and then journeyed over to New Zealand to continue my studies and to embrace my design work to a new part of the world.  I am 37 and have a very loving fiance Anton, who I am marrying early next year.  Currently I’m working for the New Zealand fashion brand WORLD and am about to venture into a new and confidential opportunity with them.

By Liz Ah-Hi 

Cover photo credit:  Nadya Va'a

The Palolo moon made me do it.

At 2.30am this morning I woke up with an unusual amount of alertness considering I had only accepted a random invitation just a few hours earlier from my neighbour to go ‘ka palolo’ in Lefaga.

It was the moment I had been waiting for and weeks of dropping hints into social conversations had finally paid off at the eleventh hour bearing in mind there was only days left of the palolo rising.

Though my Dad dispels it, I could have sworn I had a childhood memory of waking up to a dark but moonlit beach in Asau filled with shadow people carrying torches, hunting for palolo in silence. Whether it was just a dream or an actual event that took place, I was looking forward to having a new experience.…more

The Guerrilla Collection are taking over the waterfront!

Black Grace have come together with some of Auckland’s most treasured Maori & Pasifika artists, to bring you “The Guerrilla Collection”

The brainchild of Arts Laureate Neil Ieremia, partnered with artists Anapela Polataivao, Victor Rodger, Courtney Sina-Meredith, Justin Haiu, Paul Fagamalo, Sean Macdonald and youngun Leki Jackson-Bourke, the 3 Day Festival is set to start this coming Friday, 2nd November at the ASB Waterfront Theatre.

Guerrilla Collection explores the daunting idea of “What will Auckland look like in 30 years, what will it look like, smell like, feel like, taste like”

For Curator Neil Ieremia, it was important for Pasifika People to be involved in this conversation.  

“We are the largest Pacific City in the world ... It’s so important that we have a voice and a seat at the table, so give us one!  And if you don’t give us one, we’ll take one” he said.…more

LEKI JACKSON BOURKE 

Playwright, Writer, Actor, Inaugral emerging Pasifka writer in Residence 

Niuean, Samoan, Tongan 

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By Mario Gaoa 

Don’t feel bad if you haven’t been or heard of these awards, it doesn’t make you an art snob nor does it suggest that you are out of touch with your creative islandness. Everyone has awards, academy awards, Bafta awards, Grammy awards, NZ plumming awards and the list goes on.

The Creative NZ Pacific artist awards are held every year and hosted by Creative New Zealand and recognise the contributions to art by some of our most talented and respected Pacific artists, of which there are many.  Going down the list of previous recipients of these awards is eye-watering stuff.  Albert Wendt, Nathaniel Lees, Jonny Penisula, Lemi Ponifasio, Annie Crummer, Jim Vivieaere ... it’s like an All Blacks team of Pacific Artists, so it is little wonder that these awards are a big deal to our budding arts industry.

This years awards are being held in Parliament. A structurally sound but very ugly building ..... or so I thought.…more

Earlier this evening on Monday Night Raw, the WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns revealed that he was battling leukaemia and would be stepping away from the ring & relinquishing the Universal Champion belt.

The 33 year old Samoan wrestler whose real name is Leati Joseph Anoa'i left the crowd speechless as he let them know he'd been battling the disease for the last 11 years.

Moments after announcing that his returning leukemia had forced him to relinquish the Universal Championship, he was met with an outpouring of support backstage.…more