Kalisolaite 'Uhila - Mother Man

Join us on the closing weekend of Declaration: A Pacific Feminist Agenda to watch Kalisolaite ‘Uhila’s closing performance of Mother Man, 2022. Kalisolaite ‘Uhila is a leading artist in Aotearoa New Zealand, renowned for his contemporary performances that reveal everyday patterns and a language hidden inside the body.

Mother Man is a commissioned performance installation that sees the artist return to Toi o Tāmaki following his groundbreaking performance Mo’ui tukuhausia, 2014 for the Walters Prize. For Mother Man, ‘Uhila performs with his sister’s son. Together, artist and nephew reinterpret Tongan gender roles enacted in ritual and ceremonial events which govern interactions. Gender roles within the Pacific are relational, particularly in the Tongan stratified society, and are maintained by the symbolic honouring of women through rank and the material honouring of men through land inheritance.

Please arrive early to avoid disappointment.

Bio

Kalisolaite ‘Uhila (born 1981) is an award-winning performance artist born in the Kingdom of Tonga. He lives and works in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. ‘Uhila’s durational performances that are based on his Tongan heritage and rework concepts of tradition, masculinity and cultural bias. He received a Bachelor of Visual Arts from Auckland University of Technology in 2010, followed by a Masters of Performance & Media Arts in 2016. ‘Uhila has received multiple residencies for his practice, including the Montalvo Arts Centre Residency, California (2018); Youkobo Art Space Residency, Tokyo (2018); and ZK/U & Ifa Galerie Residency, Berlin (2016). In 2014 he was selected as a finalist in the Walters Prize for his 2012 work Mo’ui Tukuhausia. In 2020 ‘Uhila was awarded the Harriet Friedlander Residency by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand.

Image courtesy of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki