In her catalogue essay for the exhibition sis – Pacific Art 1980-2023, Moana writer Lana Lopesi says she grew up being called “sis” by her girlfriends, but adds, ‘yet within Pacific diasporic spaces in Aotearoa New Zealand, there is often visible discomfort at any mention of the word “feminism”’.
It is a view shared by Samoan academic Moeata Keil. She notes in her essay: ‘I think somehow feminism has been misunderstood as something-to-do-with-the-West, as a Western way of thinking that contradicts Pacific cultures and customs.’
Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's Senior Contributor, after 12 years in the role as National Visual Arts Editor. She has worked for extended periods in America and Southeast Asia, as gallerist, arts administrator and regional contributing editor for a number of magazines, including Hong Kong based Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. She is an Art Tour leader for the AGNSW Members, and lectures regularly on the state of the arts. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW.
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