Aotearoa NZ

PacificSisters:HeToaTāera|FashionActivists

A major retrospective, showcasing a collective of ground-breaking Pacific and Māori fashion designers, artists, and performers.

A collective of Pacific and Māori fashion designers, artists, and performers, the Pacific Sisters electrified 1990s Auckland, bringing the ground-breaking style of an urban, New Zealand–born Pacific generation to the mainstream. Through pioneering, daring shows, the Pacific Sisters overturned stereotypes about Pacific culture, ‘dusky maiden’ beauty and sexuality.

A major retrospective, Pacific Sisters: He Toa Tāera | Fashion Activists showcases the collective’s innovative costumes and performances, which began as street style before expanding into multimedia experiences in venues from art galleries to night clubs.

Exhibition continues until Sunday 14 July

Note: Entry charges apply to international visitors

Watch Video (NZSL-interpreted) about Pacific Sisters

Click here for details of the NZSL-Interpreted exhibition tour

Click here for details of the Touch Tour and Audio Described exhibition tour

Credits

Pacific Sisters is a collective including
Lisa Reihana, Ngāpuhi/Aotearoa
Rosanna Raymond, Hāmoa/Aotearoa
Ani O'Neill, Aotearoa/Kuki Airini
Suzanne Tamaki, Aotearoa, Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Maniapoto
Selina Haami, Hāmoa/Aotearoa
Niphi Tupaea, Ngāti Katoa, Aotearoa
Henzart @ Henry Ah-Foo Taripo, Aotearoa/Kuki Airini
Feeonaa Wall, Aotearoa/Hāmoa/Wīreni/Tiamani
Jaunnie ‘Ilolahia, Tonga/Aotearoa

Images
Kaitiaki with a K; Tāulaolevai: Keeper of the Water (Tuna) (cloak) 2017, New Zealand by Pacific Sisters. Installation view. Pacific Sisters: Fashion Activists, 2018, Toi Art, Te Papa. Photograph by Kate Whitely.

21st Sentry Cyber Sister 1997, New Zealand by Pacific Sisters, Ani O’Neill, Niphi Tupaea, Rosanna Raymond, Suzanne Tamaki, Te Papa (FE011080) and Leai se Fefe (Costume to offset the Acid thought of Doubt) 2016 by Feeonaa Wall. Installation view. Pacific Sisters: Fashion Activists, 2018, Toi Art, Te Papa.

Developed and toured by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Pacific Sisters’ fashion is activism... because fashion offered a way to combat stereotypes.

— Ioana Gordon-Smith, The Pantograph Punch