Pacific Sisters
Established 1992 in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), Aotearoa New Zealand
Rosanna Raymond
Ema Lyon
Ani O’Neill
Feeonaa Clifton
Nephi Tupaea
Ruth Woodbury
Salvador Brown
Suzanne Tamaki
Henry A Taripo (a.k.a HenZart)
Lisa Reihana
Jaunnie ‘Ilolahia
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Kaitiaki with a K 2017
Artists: Ani O’Neill, Feeonaa Clifton, Lisa Reihana, Rosanna Raymond, Suzanne Tamaki, Henry Ah-Foo Taripo, Jaunnie ‘Ilolahia
feathers, videotape, coconut shell, plastic, cotton yarn, pandanus, wood, shell, waxed nylon cord, sennit, bone, jute, wild hibiscus raffia, copper wire, acrylic yarn, mother-of-pearl, polyester satin ribbon, pigs tusk, perspex, glass
Tapu Tinana 2019
Artist: Nephi Tupaea
plastic raffia, coconut, wool, wooden beads, hessian
Sup’ia Suga 2023
Artists: Ani O’Neill, Ema Lyon, Feeonaa Clifton, Rosanna Raymond, Ruth Woodbury, Suzanne Tamaki, Salvador Brown, Numangatini Mackenzie
lycra, ink, acrylic yarn, resin, shell, coconut, flax fibre, cotton fabric, cord, glass, shell and plastic beads, plastic raffia, buttons, rubber, vinyl, elastic, shells, wild hibiscus raffia, embroidery cotton, leather, sequins, matai wood
Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from a grant from Open Society Foundations, generous assistance from Creative New Zealand, generous assistance from James Roth and Susan Sue Acret, and assistance from the Chartwell Charitable Trust
MuruMoa 2023
Artists: Ani O’Neill, Feeonaa Clifton, Rosanna Raymond, Ema Lyon
wool, silk, lurex, satin, denim, knit, nylon and polyester fabrics, tapa cloth, leather, wild hibiscus raffia, volcanic rock, shell, plastic, glass, steel, paint, waxed linen, coconut shell, wire, horse bone, pig teeth, plastic raffia, twine, flax fibre
Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from a grant from Open Society Foundations, assistance from James Roth and Susan Sue Acret, and assistance of the Chartwell Charitable Trust
Courtesy the artists
Known for their multidisciplinary arts practice and fashion activism, the mana wahine (women of strength) who comprise the Pacific Sisters collective, founded in Auckland in 1992, have embraced Māori, Pacific and queer identities to weave Moana-based customary art and cultural practices into contemporary art.
Renowned for their philosophical or ‘kaupapa-driven’ frock ethos, which envisions clothing less as adornment than as a statement of power, each Pacific Sister aitu (avatar) has a unique story.
MuruMoa, named for one of the sites of the French nuclear tests conducted from 1966 to 1996, guards what is left of a post-nuclear world, protecting motu (lands), moana (oceans) and tagata (people).
Sup’ia Suga, believer in pono (honesty), manaakitanga (kindness and generosity) and ataahuatanga (supa-fabulous), is described as ‘part Wonder Woman and part Superman, and all girl power’. Encouraging each of us to take responsibility for our own actions, Sup’ia Suga is here to save the day.
Tapu Tinana embodies Nephi Tupaea’s personal journey back to her whānau (family group), and Kaitiaki with a K wears an obsidian-like videotape cloak in lieu of natural fibres. An obsolete material, the videotape ripples as if alive.
The Pacific Sisters is a Tāgata Moana art collective that emerged from the fringes of mainstream arts and culture in Aotearoa New Zealand in 1991. They are now celebrated for their multi-disciplinary practice that blends Moana heritage art and contemporary forms to create fashion activism. Through ceremony, art, adornment and performance, they embrace and assert their urban Māori, Pacific, and Queer identities, unique to Aotearoa New Zealand. Pacific Sisters advocate for the environment, Indigenous, POC and Queer rights and body sovereignty. The collective is an active and influential part of the wider Moana arts community, nurturing and mentoring younger artists, as well as inspiring and supporting each other’s individual art practices.
Read more about the 24th Biennale of Sydney, Ten Thousand Suns, by purchasing the catalogue here.