Pacific Focus - Documentary Photography
Niu Life : Manukau's Pacific People
Introduction
Niu Life was presented by Manukau Arts as a community project that aimed to reflect the cultural and social identity of Pacific Island life. Supported by the Pacific Island Advisory Committee (PIAC) and Manukau City Council, the photographs in the exhibition affirm the generational bond that Pacific people have with Manukau city.
The Pacific community was invited to submit their photographs which were then reproduced and installed at Mangere Community Arts Centre in March 2007 as part of the Celebrate Pasifika festival, and later at Fresh Gallery Otara in Otara Town Centre.
Organisers gathered photographs from individuals, organisations and the media to convey a social history and create a visual narrative of tradition and change, people and places.
From inside our photo albums and the walls of our sitting rooms, photographs hold meaning and mana. They are memories of people and emotions forever caught in time; shared joys of family celebrations, and deep sorrows for loved ones that have passed on.
Leilani Kake
Project Co-ordinator
Family, religion, education, sports, arts and home are all revealed; especially honouring the unique Pacific identity that early migrants brought with them in their hopes and dreams for a better life, a niu/new life.
Each of the photos stores the essence of who we are, our achievements, our joys, our successes, our true spirit, despite our challenges and failures.
Cr. Su’a William Sio
Manukau City Councillor – Otara Ward & PIAC Co-Sponsor
Niu Life proved to be a striking visual project, with the narrative walking viewers through many facets of life for Pacific communities, from the 1950s up until the present day. Family albums, newspaper archives and documentary photography all proved to be rich sources of images, information and memories – which local visitors to the exhibition quickly discovered.
These photographs map tradition and change, people and places. Niu Life seeks to acknowledge the contribution Pacific peoples have made to Manukau city, not only in terms of economy and infrastructure, but in terms of identity, culture and spirit.
Ema Tavola
Pacific Arts Co-ordinator, Manukau Arts