As we draw closer to the new year we’ve asked a very special guest every day to take a moment to reflect on 2018 and to tell us about one photograph that best captures the year for them. It’s a box of treats to surprise you with every day – and conjure our hopes and wishes for 2019. This is our way of sharing the sweetness of the season and of saying ‘Thank You’ to you for inspiring us throughout the year.

Today’s special guest:

Olivia Laita, Curator, Arts Manager with ONO’U Festival in Tahiti, Founder of Aotearoa Urban Arts Trust in Auckland, New Zealand

Why this photo?

This photo captures a point in current time here in Auckland, New Zealand, of a generation of Polynesians who are a product of their parents migration and resulting Pacific Diaspora. Through the power of the Internet reconnecting the people of the Moana, Polynesians are moving to the forefront to tell their own stories through their own creative platforms, rather than through anthropological-like viewpoints set by modern day colonialists.

What do you wish for 2019?

For all creative practitioners to explore and learn about their ancestral identities through the engagement of all five senses in real space, with little help from books and search engines, in hope that it may influence their work in unique ways.

Auckland, New Zealand

TITLE: Untitled, 2018

MODEL: Luciane Buchanan

CREATIVE DIRECTION: Luciane Buchanan & Brendan Kitto

LOCATION: Auckland, New Zealand

PHOTO: Brendan Kitto

Olivia Laita
Curator/Arts Manager – www.olivialaita.com
CEO of Aotearoa Urban Arts Trust – www.auat.co.nz

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