"The land of milk and honey”, originally a biblical phrase, was used in the 1960s and ‘70s to describe Aotearoa and Australia as lands of abundance for the Moana people who had migrated from their homelands. The reality, however, differed greatly from the empty promises that were offered, with many Moana communities still feeling the effects almost thirty years later.
Spilt Milk (and hard honey) is an exhibition that takes this phase as a challenge, inviting seven Moana heritage artists from Aotearoa and Australia to share their practices which have been cultivated in these ‘abundant’ lands. The artists are not afraid of who they are. They embrace their culture and connections to firmly state that Moana people will persevere no matter what history tells us.
Featuring newly commissioned and recent works by Benjamin Akuila (Tonga), Leitu Bonnici (Samoa), Emily Greenwood (Tonga), Axel Iva (Samoa), Etanah Lalau-Talapā (Samoa), Jimmy Ma’ia’i (Samoa), and Manuha‘apai Vaeatangitau (Tonga), and guest curated by Talia Smith (Cook Islands, Samoa), Spilt Milk (and hard honey) is on now and runs until August 8 at West Space in Collingwood Yards.
