Dr Rachael Hall is a designer, artist, researcher and lecturer based in Te Whanganui a Tāra. With ancestral ties to Niutoua, Tongatapu and Ta’anea, Vava’u, her work contributes to preserving customary Tongan artforms while opening new pathways for evolution. Designing and handcrafting reproduced and re-imagined instruments, she weaves notions of past, present and future, inviting musicians to explore new possibilities in sound, musical expression,and cultural identity. Rachael holds a PhD in Industrial Design from Massey University.
Pā’utu-’O-Vava’u-Lahi Dr Adriana Māhanga Lear is a queer Tongan-Australian interdisciplinary artist and researcher working across sound, music, photography, print, video, sculpture and installation. Adriana holds ancestral ties to Tu’anuku, Vava’u and Vaipoa, Niuatoputapu. Central to Adriana’s practice is an embodied ‘re-sounding’ of the archive and visual and sonic application of kupesi as motif, symbolism and language. Adriana has a PhD in Creative Arts from the University of Wollongong.
Dr Sione Faletau is a multidisciplinary artist and researcher of Tongan descent, based in Ōtara, South Auckland, with ancestral ties to Taunga and Lakepa. Working with sound design, sculptural projection mapping and digital media, he transforms audio frequencies into visual forms, reenergising kupesi (Tongan patterns) as living, dynamic expressions of identity. Sione’s Master's and Doctor of Fine Arts is from the Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland.
Image: Fangufangu (nose flutes), 1800s. Gifts of Derek J. Wilson (2009) and Alexander Turnbull (2013) Collection of Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand. Photograph by Nikki Parlane
‘Oku tufunga, ‘ātisi, sikola mo faiako ‘a Toketā Rachael Hall mo nofo ‘i Te Whanganui a Tāra. ‘Oku ne fakahokototo ki Niutōua, Tongatapu, mo Ta‘anea, Vava‘u, pea ‘oku tokoni ‘ene ngāue hono fakatolonga ‘ae ngaahi ‘aati tu‘ufonua FakaTonga mo fakaava ‘ae ngaahi hala fo‘ou kihe liliu. ‘Oku ne lālanga fakataha ‘ae kuohili, pē kuongamu‘a, lotolotonga, pē kuongaloto, moe kaha‘u, pē kuongamui, ‘o fakaafe‘i ‘ae kau pulotu hiva, fasi pē mūsika, ke nau fekumi honau ngaahi ‘ilo moe poto fo‘ou he ongo, fōtunga hiva, moe fa‘unga. ‘Oku ma‘u ‘e Rachael ‘ae Toketā Filosofī he Tufunga Fakangāue‘anga meihe ‘Univēsiti Mesi.
‘Oku ngāue ‘a Pā’utu-’O-Vava’u-Lahi Toketā Adriana Māhanga Lear, koe ‘ātisi moe sikola fakavaha‘aako Moana LGBTQIA+ MVPFAFF+ Tonga-‘Asitelēlia he mala‘e, pē sapuseki, ‘oe ongo, hiva, pē mūsika, faitā, faipaaki, faitā-vitiō, tufunga-tātongitongi, pē sikalapusā, moe fototu‘ume‘a. ‘Oku fakahokototo ‘a Adriana ki Tu’anuku, Vava’u mo Vaipoa, Niuatoputapu. ‘Oku tefito ‘ae ngāue ‘a Adriana hono fakasino ‘oe ‘toe-fakaongo’ ‘oe fale-tānakinga-koloa, pē ‘ākaivi, moe ‘ata moe fasi, hono ngāue‘aki, pē ‘apalai, honau kupesi, koe pule moe heliaki moe lea. ‘Oku ma‘u ‘e Adriana ‘ae Toketā Filosofī he Ngaahi ‘Aati Mohu‘atamai-Mohuloto meihe ‘Univēsiti ‘o Wollongong.
‘Oku ‘ātisi fakavaha‘aako moe sikola ‘a Toketā Sione Faletau, koe tupu Tonga, mo nofo ‘i ‘Ōtara, ‘Okalani Tonga, pē ‘Okalani Saute, ‘o fakahokototo ki Taunga mo Lakepa. ‘Oku ne liliu ‘ae ongo kehekehe kihe fuo kehekehe, ‘o fakivia ‘ae ngaahi kupesi (koe pule FakaTonga kehekehe), koe ngaahi sino mo’ui, fihi kehekehe ‘oe fa‘unga. ‘Oku ma‘u ‘e Sione ‘ae MA moe Toketā Filosofī he Ngaahi ‘Aati Mohume‘a meihe Apiako ‘Ēlami he Ngaahi ‘Aati Mohume‘a, ‘Univēsiti ‘o ‘Okalani.
