Our time to say Tōfā — Tofa Si Ou Tina

The return to frankfurt

The return to Frankfurt in 2019 to farewell the work would center on a performance piece choreographed by Ufitia Sagapolutele. It would draw on her memories of what our mother had taught her and follow her journey as a dancer. Alongside this echo of her past, she would apply the research into her practice and contemporary Siva Samoa which includes guidance from renowned Samoan dancer Tupe Lualua. The performance would include dancers Natalia Ioane and Lyncia Muller who are regular collaborators with Ufitia as part of their explorations into contemporary Moana infused movement and dance.

I had discussed the possibility of including a choreographed contemporary Siva Samoa with the team at Weltkulturen, explaining that it would be a chance for our family to pay respect to our mother and to also provide an opportunity for a group of Samoans to be present and reconnect with the archive as I had done the previous year. From a narrative point of view, it was also a chance to complete the circle for our mother and sister who, seven years prior, had danced as representatives of two distinct styles. Ufitia had evolved in her practice as a dancer and would be able to honour what our mother had taught her and show her fa’aaloalo (deference and respect) to dance on more time on behalf of aiga as we say goodbye.

Dr. Eva Raabe, Matthias Claudius Hoffman, and Leonie Neumann would become our aiga in Frankfurt and with filmmakers Jeremiah Tauamiti and Samson Vaotuua our project team was complete. With this project, we had an opportunity to provide younger artists from our Moana community to network and gain experience with an international audience. Being able to help serve the next generation and offer them chance to stretch their wings beyond Aotearoa is hugely important, when they fly high we all gain the benefit of what they see and feel.

The importance of documenting the project while we were in Frankfurt was hugely important as a way to include our experiences and as a way to share the performance of the farewell artwork by Ufitia Sagapolutele. Jeremiah Tauamiti and Samson Vaotuua were the artists behind the production of this mini-documentary and their support and dedication to honouring our mother was always at the forefront of the process. The music of Te Vaka and the Mika Sisters proved to be the balm needed while we were so far from home and we are forever inspired by them, alofa tele atu.

Natalia Ioane at Auckland University 2019.

Ufitia Sagapolutele at Auckland University 2019.

Lyncia Muller at Auckland University 2019.

The first introduction to the space at Weltkulturen Museum.

New flags from home in front of our home for the next few days.

Holding space on the old Iron Bridge over the River Main.

Final poses before or farewell to our mother.

‘whilst Samoan custom marks tradition, samoan culture marks change’ - tui atua tupoua tamases taisi tupuola tufuga efi

If I frame community around Fa’aSamoa (the Samoan way), creative arts and conversations with one of my mentors and guides, Samoan sculptor Johnny Penisula (our uncle and our mothers older brother), then I must acknowledge that the arts and community are one. Art, according to Johnny, is not a separate skill that sits outside of our day to day. It is part of what makes us who we are, any art created is a living expression of our people and community, part of our agaga (soul or spirit). That’s my broad take on our conversations but if I were to focus more on this notion then one way of reading this would be to see that art for my community, my Samoan and broader Pacific community is a wide net that includes dance, tatau, oratory, performance, visual, design, written forms and film making just to name a few.

They capture who we are, all of these form the heart of what we do as people from our part of the world. When I create work around my lived experiences or when I capture images of those around me, the art has a gafa (geneology) that links it to my aiga, family and our ancestors. The image is not a 2-dimensional representation of light I have caught and then framed for viewing, the image is an ancestor and an extension of my gafa. Apply that to the poetry, sculptures, writing, painting, weaving, architecture and so many other endeavours our artists engage in and the circle binds tighter.

Understanding this, saying goodbye to the image of our mother is not performative, it is necessary as this is our mother - she exists in this space and will hold our alofa.

Paintings by Nanette Lela'ulu and Andy Leleisi’uao.

Lyncia Muller with artwork by Greg Semu.