Yuki Kihara Exhibitions

Yuki Kihara

Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?

16 Mar - 10 Apr 2013

Exhibition Works

German Monument, Mulinu'u
German Monument, Mulinu'u (2013)
Agelu i Tausi Catholic Church After Cyclone Evan, Mulivai Safata
Agelu i Tausi Catholic Church After Cyclone Evan, Mulivai Safata (2013)
Roman Catholic Church, Apia
Roman Catholic Church, Apia (2013)
After Cyclone Evan, Lelata
After Cyclone Evan, Lelata (2013)
St Mary's School, Savalalo
St Mary's School, Savalalo (2013)
Aggie Grey's Resort Casino, Mulifanua
Aggie Grey's Resort Casino, Mulifanua (2013)
Aquatic Centre, Tuanaimato
Aquatic Centre, Tuanaimato (2013)
Fale Samoa, Satitoa
Fale Samoa, Satitoa (2013)
After Tsunami Galu Afi, Lalomanu
After Tsunami Galu Afi, Lalomanu (2013)
Mau Headquarters, Vaimoso
Mau Headquarters, Vaimoso (2013)
Old Courthouse, Apia
Old Courthouse, Apia (2013)
SNPF Plaza, Savalalo
SNPF Plaza, Savalalo (2013)
Piula Theological College, Lufilufi
Piula Theological College, Lufilufi (2013)
Piula Theological College, Lufilufi - Triptych Part 1
Piula Theological College, Lufilufi - Triptych Part 1 (2013)
Piula Theological College, Lufilufi - Triptych Part 2
Piula Theological College, Lufilufi - Triptych Part 2 (2013)
Piula Theological College, Lufilufi - Triptych Part 3
Piula Theological College, Lufilufi - Triptych Part 3 (2013)
Departure, Faleolo International Airport
Departure, Faleolo International Airport (2013)
Saleapaga Primary School After Tsunami Galu Afi, Saleapaga
Saleapaga Primary School After Tsunami Galu Afi, Saleapaga (2013)
Plantation, Lalomanu
Plantation, Lalomanu (2013)
Marist Brothers Old Pupil's Association House After Cyclone Evan, Mulivai
Marist Brothers Old Pupil's Association House After Cyclone Evan, Mulivai (2013)
Fale Fono at Malae o Tiafau, Mulinu'u
Fale Fono at Malae o Tiafau, Mulinu'u (2013)

Exhibition Text

The title of Shigeyuki Kihara’s exhibition is lifted from a large-scale painting by Paul Gauguin completed in 1897 shortly before he died in Tahiti. Kihara uses these questions to frame her examination of Samoan culture and society following the tsunami of 2009, last year’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of Samoa’s independence and, most recently, the destruction caused by Cyclone Evan.

Taking inspiration from a late 19th-century photograph, Samoan Half Caste, by New Zealand photographer Thomas Andrew, Kihara dons a Victorian mourning dress and re-visits a character first seen in her performance works Taualuga: The Last Dance (2006); Siva in Motion (2012) and Galu Afi: Waves of Fire (2012).

The settings chosen by Kihara for her photographs are pointed allusions to the social, religious, economic and political issues the artist wishes to highlight. Using extant architectural trappings of previous colonising powers as backdrops, images such as the Old Apia Courthouse, Apia are loaded with multiple histories. In addition to this, Kihara asks the viewer to consider the role of neo-colonialism in present-day Samoa, using population drift (Departures, Faleolo Airport) and economic influence (the Chinese-funded development in Aquatic Centre, Tuanaimato) as pertinent examples.

Kihara turns her gaze onto the environmental destruction wrought in her country over the past four years, revisiting the subject of her Wallace Award-winning work Galu Afi. The artist’s images of a roofless schoolroom, a tattered plantation and a picture-postcard beachfront are poignant reminders that a tsunami’s personal and physical damage remains long after the media coverage of such disasters has finished.

Throughout this suite of photographs, Kihara uses the stark outlines of her 19th century taffeta gown as a vivid contrast to her choice of backdrops, be it the rounded lines of the Fale Fono (Samoan Parliament buildings) or the manicured gardens that were the site of the Mau headquarters. Her use of strong shadows requires close, concentrated examination by the viewer and the choice of black and white enhances the dense textures and geometries of the subjects.

Referencing the staged photographic postcards of the ‘South Seas’, Kihara’s lone figure stands as silent witness to scenes of political, historical and cultural importance in present-day Samoa. She turns the camera on her country’s colonial past, the impact of burgeoning globalisation, ideas of indigeneity and the role of government in an independent Samoa. Kihara “unpacks the myth” (1) of her country as an untouched Pacific paradise as seen through the eyes of colonial powers and tourist photographs.

1. Artist statement, January 2013.

exhibition catalogue