Yuki Kihara: A Song About Sāmoa

Yuki Kihara brings her exquisitely-crafted siapo kimono to Pātaka in Porirua. Taking her Japanese grandmother’s ‘unassuming brown’ kimono as a starting point, Kihara melds two culturally distinctive artforms—Sāmoan siapo and Japanese kimono.

Yuki views the merging of these two traditional textile practices as an expression of her literal embodiment of the Japanese- Sāmoan experience. The project is the first instalment in an ongoing series that’s expected to roll out over five years and will eventually comprise 20 siapo kimono.

The works are presented as sculptural objects as well as a surface for illustration and design. Featuring distinctly Japanese wave forms, siapo patterns and the semi-circular seigaiha, these designs explore the cultural, social and political connections between Japan and the Pacific Islands and specifically Sāmoa.

The exhibition title "Sāmoa no uta" A Song About Sāmoa is drawn from a popular Japanese song.

Yuki Kihara is an interdisciplinary artist and curator/producer based in Sāmoa. Of Japanese and Sāmoan descent, her work has been presented and acquired by museums around the world including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, British Museum and Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand.

Yuki will represent Aotearoa New Zealand at the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022, the first Pacific artist to do so.

Images courtesy of the artist and Milford Galleries Dunedin. Photography: Glenn Frei.

Please note Pataka's Sunday opening hours: 11:00am - 4:30pm