Sistar S’pacific & the savage k’lub
“Sistar S’pacific is the unforgettable performance moniker of the indomitable Rosanna Raymond. Through the process of cultivating and conducting highly stylized activations, installations, and exhibitions, Rosanna has developed the singular talent of carving out profound metaphysical richness from the mendacity of post-colonial Pasifika life. She is a provocateur, a grand priestess of performance art, an innovator of the contemporary Pasifika art scene, a long-standing member of the 'The Pacific Sisters' collective, and founding member of the visceral performance collective known as the SaVĀge K’lub of Aotearoa.
Rosanna's international renown centers on her live performances, unique installations, innovative body adornments - both precious and provocative - and live spoken word poetry. A published writer and wordsmith, her works are sought after by museums and private collectors throughout the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In 2018 Raymond was awarded the CNZ Pacific Senior Artist acknowledging her contribution to the arts, a former Chester Dale Fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, as well as receiving an appointment as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2024, for recognition of her services to Pacific Arts.
I met Rosanna for the first time via an introduction by Numa Mackenzie - a.k.a. "Numanaturesgentleman", a Cook Islander-by-way-of-Canada carver, performance artist, teacher, and print maker - at the Corban Art Estates, in Auckland. At the time, she, Numa, and other resident visual and mixed-media creatives were showcasing the diversity of indigenous-centered modern art to students visiting from around the area. I was in Aotearoa (New Zealand) on a month-long cultural exchange, as a visiting educator at the Diocesan School. It was Winter in the Southern hemisphere, my first time both in Aotearoa and below the Earth's equator. She hugged me close after learning my name, with a cheery "Hello, darling". I barely remember our first conversation, but I vividly remember her warmth and inviting energy. She was instantly unforgettable, magnetic, feral yet refined - an exquisite balance of quirky contradictions and witty perspective. I gravitated to her instantly. And over the next several years, she would become one of the most important inspirations in my life.
For Hawaiians, terms of endearment in reference to strangers isn't uncommon. On any given day most Hawaiians and Hawai'i locals are far likelier to call someone they don't know personally 'Aunty', 'Uncle', 'Cousin', 'Brother', or 'Sis'. But the significance of regarding another with the same genuine respect typically reserved for a mother or a father is both rare, personal, and not to be underestimated. At several critical moments in my growth both as an artist and as a young mind yearning for guidance, Rosanna gave without expectation or complaint, sheltered me when I had nowhere to go, encouraged me when all seemed doomed, and lit a fire in my soul to embrace all of the weird and the wonderful in our Pasifika diaspora without prejudice or preconception. For the kindness she's always shown me, I hold Rosanna Raymond in the highest esteem. And to acknowledge how much her quality matters, and in reflecting how much I truly care for her, I proudly call her 'Mama'.
Beginning Jun 29th, and presented alongside the National Gallery of Australia’s exhibit Gauguin's World: Tōna Iho, Tōna Ao, the SaVĀge K’lub - a multi-disciplinary vehicle exploring ideas of hospitality, culture and identity - will convene with Rosanna to celebrate a myriad of forms in art and culture: collaborating to acti.VĀ.te people and things, while integrating historical collections from the National Gallery of Australia with contemporary works from the Savage K'lub collective. The installation is entitled Te Paepae Aora’i - "Where the Gods Cannot be Fooled".
Its layout is conceptually based on the paepae, a concept found all over the Moana in various forms and functions. The paepae usually sits outside the main marae structure. It is a threshold, a place to spread things out on, ‘a threshold across which things pass back and forth’. In Aotearoa it is also a place where speeches are delivered, ideas are considered, and fates are made... or broken. In this context Te Paepae Aora’i - is where culture treasures will be presented - both static and living, artistic and ceremonial, profound and profane. A place to create new memories, constructing our past present and future. Te Paepae Aora’i is indeed a space and time when revelations reveal, where location locates itself, and why "...the gods cannot be fooled". Contributing to the installation on behalf of KAIROU Waterman, I am honored and proud to feature the first four iterations of KAIROU's Pahu Pahu series, dedicated to Su'a Suluape Keone Nunes. This will be the first time each piece will be publicly viewable and available for purchase.
If you’re Down Under, and in the area, you must find a way to go. I can’t recommend a SaVĀge K’lub event enough. They are unforgettable nights of myth-making, physical surrealism, and contemporary indigenous extravagance unlike anything the mind has ever witnessed. Be open. Be ready.
And if you see my ‘Mama’, tell her I love her and we’ll catch up soon.”
- Mauikanehoalani
Information:
Exhibition: Te Paepae Aora’i - "Where the Gods Cannot be Fooled"
in conjunction with Gauguin's World: Tōna Iho, Tōna Ao
29 Jun – 7 Oct 2024
Level 2, Gallery 11
Free with ticket; Wheelchair Accessible
National Gallery of Australia
Parkes Pl E, Parkes ACT 2600,
Australia
