Latai Taumoepeau

The extraordinary Tongan/Australian artist, performance maker and cultural activist Latai Taumoepeau is appearing in the UK for the first time at two performance festivals this Autumn. She will be performing Ocean Island Mine at SPILL Festival of Performance in Ipswich on Wednesday 26 October and Stitching up the sea at SACRED:Homelands in London on Friday 25 November. 

Latai Taumoepeau is a Punake, body-centered performance artist. Her story is of her homelands, the Island Kingdom of Tonga and her birthplace, the Eora Nation – Sydney, and everything far and in-between. Latai activates indigenous philosophies and methodologies; cross-pollinating ancient practices of ceremony with her contemporary processes and performance work to re-interpret, re-generate and extend her movement practice and its function in and from Oceania.

“My work of late has been about amplifying the indigenous voice of the Pacific Island nations regarding the impact of climate change and the complacency of developed countries.  My practice is about locating and prioritiSing my indigenous concepts and functionality in western performance frameworks. I often say the more ancient I am the more contemporary my practice is. Essentially my body centered practice is of our Tongan concept and practice of fonua (which is regarded as doctrine of sustainability where 'person' and 'place' are treated as inseparable), as in nature, mind and society."  Latai Taumoepeau

Latai Taumoepeau was awarded the Fbi SMAC ‘Best Artist’ award 2016, and the Pacific Communities Council ‘Environment’ award 2015.

Categories: Featured Artist


Date Posted: 21 October 2016