The ‘Arts’ of Moana Oceania
The ‘Arts’ of Moana Oceania and Lagi-Maama Tok Stori Tuesdays project started out as a scoping research commissioned by Te Taumata Toi-a-Iwi to address the current knowledge gaps within and across the cultural (including arts) sector in Aotearoa New Zealand by developing a more cross-cultural approach to knowing and understanding what ‘art’ is from multiple perspectives.
We often hear about the value of ‘art’ and the importance ‘art’, but for many of our island nations, ‘art’ is not our word. Moana Oceania peoples are forced to fit our ways of knowing into a ‘general’ Western frame, that in turn isolates and ignores our ‘own specific uniqueness’.
If we are to genuinely understand and advocate for how the arts are valued by all 17+ island nations with diaspora communities in Aotearoa, we need to first know what art is from their various Indigenous world views. This means looking critically at the status quo of the cultural sector within and across Aotearoa and acknowledge that all people do ‘art’ – but it is organised, performed and created differently within and across different cultures.
To read the 17 island nation reports and view gifted knowledge click the button below:
