Talking Story about Art and Life: Narratives of Contemporary Oceanic Artists and Their
Work takes a narrative, biographical approach to examine the lives and selected works of five
contemporary Oceanic artists living and working in Aotearoa New Zealand – Ioane Ioane,
Ema Tavola, Brett Graham, Robin White, and Siliga David Setoga. The narrative
methodology, inspired by the Hawaiian notion of “talking story,” utilises informal
conversations as sites of knowledge production. This approach allowed more personal and
varied information to emerge, which speaks to the pluralities of identity. Instead of focusing
primarily on visually analysing the creative output of the artists, their artworks and practices
are incorporated as aspects of their voices that contribute to the narratives of their lives. The
participants told stories that engage with the complexities intrinsic to their lives, revealing
areas to research for the purpose of supporting their narratives. The supporting research
investigates the notion of vā, Oceanic curatorial practices, trickster discourse, insider/outsider
discourse, and fa‘a Sāmoa. In carrying out this investigation, this thesis illustrates choices
artists are making to express their voices on their own terms. Bringing to light these choices
also reminds viewers/readers that we can actively shape our own narratives. By privileging
the artists’ stories told in their own words, this thesis honours Oceanic oral traditions and
moves forward our understanding of these contemporary Oceanic artists and their artistic
practices.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:canterbury.ac.nz/oai:ir.canterbury.ac.nz:10092/9354 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Yamauchi, Chikako |
| Publisher | University of Canterbury. School of Humanities and Creative Arts |
| Source Sets | University of Canterbury |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic thesis or dissertation, Text |
| Rights | Copyright Chikako Yamauchi, http://library.canterbury.ac.nz/thesis/etheses_copyright.shtml |
| Relation | NZCU |
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