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About the Artist: Lemi Ponifasio

About the Artist: Lemi Ponifasio Photo by Christian Westerback Lemi Ponifasio is a theater director, New Zealand Arts Laureate, tufuga, and Samoan high chief; he has been described as a profound visionary whose work transcends genres to redefine the power of art. In 1995 he founded MAU, a theater company and creative forum for collaborative engagement among artists, scholars, community leaders, and activists. MAU now regularly performs in the most prestigious international arts festivals. While exploring themes of universal significance, works such as Tem- pest: Without a Body and Birds With Skymirrors also draw attention to issues of current concern in the Pacific. When Māori activist Tame Iti performed in MAU’s production of Tempest: Without a Body (2007), themes of power, oppression, and increasing state control in a post-9/11 world gained potency through Iti’s physical presence, his association with protests over crown confiscation of Ngai Tuhoe tribal land, and deten- tion following unlawful 2007 New Zealand Police raids into Tuhoe com- munities made under the 2002 Terrorism Suppression Act. In Birds With Skymirrors (2009), the intricacy, swiftness, and precision of Kiribati dance movement, Māori poi, and Samoan slap dance resonated with haunting strains of karanga (ancestral Māori calls), mechanical drone, and breath, vi within http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The Contemporary Pacific University of Hawai'I Press

About the Artist: Lemi Ponifasio

Nepia, Moana
The Contemporary Pacific , Volume 28 (1) – Jan 7, 2016
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Publisher
University of Hawai'I Press
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 University of Hawai'i Press.
ISSN
1527-9464

Abstract

Photo by Christian Westerback Lemi Ponifasio is a theater director, New Zealand Arts Laureate, tufuga, and Samoan high chief; he has been described as a profound visionary whose work transcends genres to redefine the power of art. In 1995 he founded MAU, a theater company and creative forum for collaborative engagement among artists, scholars, community leaders, and activists. MAU now regularly performs in the most prestigious international arts festivals. While exploring themes of universal significance, works such as Tem- pest: Without a Body and Birds With Skymirrors also draw attention to issues of current concern in the Pacific. When Māori activist Tame Iti performed in MAU’s production of Tempest: Without a Body (2007), themes of power, oppression, and increasing state control in a post-9/11 world gained potency through Iti’s physical presence, his association with protests over crown confiscation of Ngai Tuhoe tribal land, and deten- tion following unlawful 2007 New Zealand Police raids into Tuhoe com- munities made under the 2002 Terrorism Suppression Act. In Birds With Skymirrors (2009), the intricacy, swiftness, and precision of Kiribati dance movement, Māori poi, and Samoan slap dance resonated with haunting strains of karanga (ancestral Māori calls), mechanical drone, and breath, vi within

Journal

The Contemporary Pacific – University of Hawai'I Press

Published: Jan 7, 2016

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