Indigenous communities have been affected by dispossession and knowledge loss as a result of colonialism. Many Western museum collections hold the spoils of colonial expropriation, raising questions about stewardship, reparation and agency. How are Oceanic communities reconnecting with their ancestral treasures held in museums, and what role can art play in these processes? What changes are occurring, and what challenges still exist?
The panel draws on the project by American-Vietnamese artist Tuấn Andrew Nguyễn in collaboration with Stanley Inum, a descendant of the Luf boat builders in Papua New Guinea. They visited the Humboldt Forum in Berlin to reconnect for the first time with the Luf Boat, a vessel taken from Luf Island in 1903. The discussion will examine recent initiatives by Pacific creatives and museum professionals and the role of art in building connections between communities and their heritage as a significant step toward knowledge restitution.
The discussion, chaired by Lyall Hakaraia will include panelists Oe Arefasu, Tuấn Andrew Nguyễn, Alice Christophe and Lau Batty.
This event is part of the public programme for the exhibition When Water Embraces Empty Space by Tuấn Andrew Nguyễn at The Showroom (24 January - 5 April 2025).
Panelists
Oe Arefasu is originally from Ofasa Village in Pukari, Papua New Guinea. She moved to England in 1977 and worked as a farmer for many years. Currently, Arefasu is a member of a collective of Papua New Guinean women dancers which performs at public events celebrating Oceanic heritage.
Tuấn Andrew Nguyễn is a Vietnamese-American artist whose practice investigates how storytelling can promote healing in communities affected by colonial trauma, including loss of land and culture, war, and displacement. Through collaborative practices, he explores memory as a form of resistance and empowerment, emphasising the power of storytelling as a means for healing, empathy and solidarity.
Lyall Hakaraia is a London-based fashion designer, stylist, and creative director. Of Māori descent and originally from Kororareka (Russell), Aotearoa, New Zealand, Hakaraia has been influential across several industries, building and nurturing fashion, LGBQT, QTIPOC and Pacific communities and collectives. Their artistic output ranges from opening the VFD (formerly Vogue Fabrics) to designing for Madonna and Lady Gaga. Hakaraia is founding Member of the Interis*land Collective, a tangata Moana (Pacific, Oceanic people), queer-led arts/creative/activist group based in London, UK and Aotearoa.
Alice Christophe is a curator in the Oceania section of the British Museum (London, UK), where she leads the Benioff Oceania Programme. She formerly helped care for collections in the Ethnology department at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum (Honolulu, Hawaiʻi), co-curating several exhibitions and supporting community-focused collection projects and initiatives. Her current research interests include Pacific museologies, collection trajectories (past, present and future), and collection stewardship methodologies.
Lau Batty is a writer, director and creative facilitator of Tuvaluan-British heritage based in Bristol. Her work focuses on social and political injustice and is a space to explore identity and anti-colonial storytelling. As an Associate Artist for Beyond Face she will be developing her play - How To Grieve Correctly In A Tuvaluan Household With Other Oceanic References - this year and connecting with Pasifika women, femmes and fafine to tell their stories. Batty is a supporter of the Free West Papua campaign, which advocates for the province’s independence.
