Te Moemoea no Iotefa was the first exhibition held in a civic art gallery in New Zealand focused on contemporary Pacific art.
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Exhibition
The exhibition was curated by art historian Rangihiroa Panaho for the Sarjeant Art Gallery in Wanganui in 1990. The exhibition's full title was Te Moemoea no Iotefa, The Dream of Joseph: A Celebration of Pacific Art and Taonga; the title was derived from one of the tivaevae works included in the show.
The exhibition filled all the spaces of the Sarjeant Gallery. Panaho wrote in the introduction to the exhibition catalogue that he was aiming to explore the South Pacific as 'Aotearoa's most immediate historical, geographical and cultural context', and seeking to 'examine and explore the visual side of this context and the ways in which artists in this country are exploring it'. The exhibition brought together four strands of art making:
1. The wealth of material culture from the Pacific Islands found in museums, libraries, private collections - taonga such as historical writing, photographs, tapa, tivaevae, weaving and carving.
2. Work currently being produced by Pacific Islanders living in New Zealand such as tivaevae and carving.
3. Work by palagi artists in this country (e.g. Fomison, Shepherd, Lynn, Lett, Hanly, McMillan, Adams, and Jowitt) which constitutes a response to Pacific Island subject and motif.
The exhibition 'wove together the various aspects of Pacific culture as it persists in Aotearoa'. Art historian Nicholas Thomas writes 'Museum artifacts were placed with contemporary art, folk crafts with paintings, archive photographs with contemporary images, and Pacific artists among white appropriators of culture'.
The exhibition catalogue contains interviews with 10 contemporary artists included in the show:
Reception and influence
Te Moemoea no Iotefa has been described as 'the first group exhibition to celebrate the dynamism of Pacific art'.
The exhibition contributed to a sense of group identification amongst a group of young or emerging artists, including Ioane, Tuffery, Laita and John Pule.The exhibition is seen as an important precursor to Bottled Ocean, a 1994 exhibition focused on the work of contemporary Pacific artists.
Art historian Karen Stevenson notes the importance of the exhibition in building the careers of participating artists:
With the success of Te Moemoea no Iotefa, Pacific artists found exhibition space more readily available, and as recognition of Pacific artists grew, dealer galleries and community centers became interested in hosting "Pacific" exhibitions. Group "Pacific" shows became regular occurrences in art galleries throughout the country, as did solo exhibitions at dealer galleries."