A celebration of 50 years of P.A.C.I.F.I.C.A. Inc, with portraits of esteemed Pacific women in Porirua photographed by Nu’ugalo Jacinta Mauga.
This Matariki season, under the guiding star Pōhutukawa – keeper of remembrance – Marama Malama: Te Manavā Moana Women honours those who have come before and the legacies they leave behind. Nu’ugalo Jacinta Mauga’s portraits of community leaders from Niue, Cook Islands, Sāmoa, Kiribati, Fiji, Tokelau, Tahiti, Tuvalu, Hawai'i and Tonga uplift women whose service has shaped Porirua for generations.
Founded in 1976–1977 by Pacific women, P.A.C.I.F.I.C.A. Inc has nurtured leadership, advocacy, cultural wellbeing and collective care across the generations. Marama Malama: Te Manavā Moana Women not only acknowledges P.A.C.I.F.I.C.A. Inc, but also Porirua as THE centre for Pacific women, their children and the leaders of tomorrow.
Marama means woman.
Malama means light.
Malamalama speaks to insight and understanding.
Across the Moana, these words hold memory, celestial knowledge and connection. At the centre is manavā – breath, heart, relational space – honouring women as life-givers, knowledge holders and anchors of community.
Marama Malama: Te Manavā Moana Women honours living legends:
Kalisi Pou Viliamu-Hope with Ioana Viliamu-Amusia, Kale Vaega, Kalisi Pou Viliamu-Hope, Frances Pedro (and the late Faatali Viliamu Leiua)
Sose Annandale with Gagau Annandale-Stone and Lēo’o Jenny Taotua O’Carroll, the current President
The exhibition remembers the pioneers, including Elaine Uluave-Annandale (QSM), Porirua’s first Pacific Councilor (1983), and Jasmine Underhill née Pamatatau (MNZM)(1986–2004), Aotearoa’s first Pacific woman to hold the office of Deputy Mayor. It pays tribute to the late Le’autulī’ilagī Taotua Malaetā Fa’asapisapi Sauvao (MNZM).
About the artist
Nu’ugalo Jacinta Mauga is a member of the P.A.C.I.F.I.C.A. Inc Whitireia Branch and has ancestral ties to the villages of Tafitoala and Vaiusu on the island of Upolu, Sāmoa, and Franz Josef from Te Waipounamu South Island of Aotearoa. With over 20 years’ experience in the design industry, spanning enterprise-level corporate brand work to community-led creative practice, she is a graduate of Te Waka Tūhura Elam School of Fine Arts (Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland).
In conjunction with the Pātaka exhibition, a selection of the portraits will also feature in Porirua’s Te Manawā lightboxes from 27 June 2026 - 27 June 2027.
Marama Malama: Te Manavā Moana Women is proudly supported by P.A.C.I.F.I.C.A. Inc., P.A.C.I.F.I.C.A Whitireia Branch, Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage – Ngā Kōrero tuku Iho, New Zealand Oral History fund, Creative Communities Porirua and the Porirua City Council.
Image Credit: Nu’ugalo Jacinta Mauga, Lēo’o Jenny Taotua-O’Carroll, P.A.C.I.F.I.C.A. Inc, Whitireia Branch President (2024-current), 2026.
