20 Feb 2014

Pacific arts exhibition pushes the boundaries of traditonal adornment

4:33 pm on 20 February 2014

A Pacific arts exhibition was launched last night in Auckland, with Pacific artists pushing traditional boundaries.

The Fa'amanaia exhibition looks at 'adornment' as part of the Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust Project.

A major attraction was London-based, Samoan artist Rosanna Raymond, who performed part of her work "Blood Clot", described by curator Talia Smith as "visceral".

Other artists included Selina Woulfe, who stretches the boundaries of adornment by piercing her skin and attaching jewellery to her body.

Talia Smith says she's interested to gauge viewer's reactions.

"I'm quite interested to see how people react to Rosanna's performance, it's quite a visceral type. And Selina's work as well I think really pushes the boundaries of jewellery especially, and actually using the skin as a canvass. Some people are a bit squeamish about piercing yourself, so that could be interesting."

Talia Smith says the exhibition culminates with a performance night on March the 7th.