Laumati (2026)
An installation which presents a collection of moving image works by Christopher Ulutupu (Safotu/Si’umu/Alofi). Laumati has multiple meanings in Sāmoan culture, but Ulutupu is drawn to Laumati as a verb for dreaming and materialising. Where we close our eyes for light and shapes to appear, allowing our vision to perceive deeper and our ears to tune in.
Each work was filmed in a quarry at the end of Ellice Street, in Whanganui-a-Tara. A place that offered Ulutupu solace from his everyday life, it doubled as a “studio” which shaped and informed his practice for many years.
Two large sculptures stand alongside the screen, adding an audio/physical accompaniment to the works and reminding viewers of the environment and histories surrounding them.
New Kid in Town Part XIV (2021)
6:05 mins video loop
Courtesy of Jhana Millers gallery and artist
Commissioned by The Dowse Art Museum
The last chapter of the New Kid in Town series, which re-imagines tourist attractions and offers new ways of seeing and meeting the ‘other’.
Credits:
Performer: Tino Ward
DOP: Haz Forrester
Digital Animator: Dan Harris
Manaia (2019)
8:29 mins video loop
Courtesy of Jhana Millers Gallery and artist
Manaia attempts to complicate our understanding of Pacific stereotypes, unpacking the artificial nature of our relationships to tourist imaginaries.
Credits:
Performer: Manaia Ashley Ulutupu
Be Still (2019) partial edit
2:56 mins video loop
Courtesy of Jhana Millers Gallery and artist.
This is an excerpt of a two-part work (Be Happy) that explores modern propaganda and the control of the state over migrant experiences and assimilation.
Credits:
Singers: L J Crichton and Masunu Tuua