Transcript
For Lastman So'oula, the death of his father was a harsh reminder of the threats non-communicable diseases like diabetes pose to Pacific communities.
"And I kinda just thought back to the early days in Polynesia where those types of diseases never occurred because our diets were different and our way of life was different, we depended a lot on getting our food ourselves."
Mr So'oula performs spoken poetry but his part of the And Then What? exhibition is a series of still videos shot of Auckland storefronts.
In one, a Chinese takeaway shop; in another, a bottle store. And, finally, a McDonalds - all mainstays in much of the city's suburbia.
Mr So'oula says the colonisation and westernisation of Pacific culture has changed diets in New Zealand and across the Pacific.
In a region grappling with a sharp influx in imported goods laden with sugar and saturated fats as well as the introduction of multi-national fast food giants, the numbers tend to agree with him.
The World Health Organisation says more than half of the populations of at least 10 Pacific Island countries are overweight.
In New Zealand, 69% of Pacific adults are obese, according the Ministry of Health.
For Mr So'oula it's a political issue, and one that as Pasifika, he has no choice in.
"I think for Polynesian artists, there's no other way around but being political when we're in the New Zealand context, because we're always the other. Even though New Zealand is in Polynesia, it's a Westernised culture here and we've kind of been affected by that."
Another artist at the show, Naawie Tutugoro, agrees, saying gallery spaces have traditionally been exclusive spaces.
"Our existences are political and we can't avoid that, they are unavoidably political experiences. We exist politically, us being in a space like this is political, whether we like it or not."
The show's curator, Rosanna Raymond, says Pacific artists have to navigate being perceived as apolitical "happy guys", despite the opposite being true.
"For a lot of them, they were quite scared to respond to what I had. It wasn't until I actually talked to them and sort of made them realise that being political wasn't just about protesting and about placards and being negative. In fact, a lot of the work they were producing was incredibly political."
Ms Raymond says being a New Zealand born Pacific Islander comes with a lot of angst over identity, which the artists have also explored.
"So the loss of culture and the loss of language, and how that plays out in Aotearoa today is something that they're all unpacking through their art."
And Then What? runs until September 14.
This is Mackenzie Smith.
