Exploring Memory and Self-Identity Through Installation Art

Authors

Keywords:

fa‘asāmoa, Pacific art, Tusi‘upu Sāmoa, mixed heritage, identity, ‘afakasi, diaspora, installation art, sculpture

Abstract

Among Aotearoa New Zealand’s Pacific diaspora, contemporary discussions of culture and identity are highly complex and multifaceted. Through postcolonial theoretical standpoints and creative outputs, many Pacific artists have sought to explore and express these complex discussions in order to further understand themselves in a postcolonial setting. Having mixed-heritage ancestry can compound this complexity, adding multiple contexts to already multiplicitous discussions. This article contextualises components from the author’s body of work Uso 4 Life, an art installation conceived from formative memories and experiences pertinent to the development of the artist’s identity as a mixed-heritage Samoan. It also explores how installation practices can be used as a basis for such investigation.

Author Biography

Jimmy Ma‘ia‘i, Tāmaki Paenga Hira | Auckland War Memorial Museum

Jimmy Ma‘ia‘i is an Auckland-based artist and researcher of Samoan and Scottish descent. Jimmy’s creative practice explores mixed-heritage identity amongst Aotearoa’s Pacific diaspora and the intersection of personal and social histories. Jimmy exhibited works recently as part of Spring Time Is Heart-Break: Contemporary Art in Aotearoa at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū (2023) and Ocean of Whispers at Enjoy Gallery (2022) in Wellington and has artworks in both public and private collections. His first solo show will be at Blue Oyster Art Project Space, Dunedin, in June 2024. He currently works as Pacific Collection Manager at Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Published

2024-03-31 — Updated on 2024-06-18