Moana Nui Social Art Practices in Aotearoa

Abstract

This article discusses emerging methodologies in Moana Nui a Kiwa (MNak) (Pasific Peoples) performance art practices in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). It explores the ways in which artistic research guides research questions and final research outputs within the context of a practice led PhD degree. John Vea’s (Tonga/NZ) underlying research methods reference Timote Vaioleti’s work on ‘talanoa’ as a MNak notion about respectfulness in personal encounters with people. Vea’s performance practice engages with MNak minority groups — exploring tropes of migration and subsequent interaction with hegemony — where ‘co-operations’ with collectives and small groups challenge some traditional research models of leadership and authorship. These indigenous approaches encourage a different reading of theorists such as Chantel Mouffe and her ideas of navigating artistic activism and agonistic spaces of shared cooperation.