Edith Amituanai
Double Take
curated by Ane Tonga
10 May – 14 July 2019
Edith Amituanai: Double Take is the first exhibition to survey artist Edith Amituanai’s practice in its entirety. Presenting over 60 photographs, it provides insights into the various bodies of work she has produced since 2003 which draw attention to the experiences of Pacific people as well as other diasporic communities both within New Zealand and further afield. Imaging people and domestic spaces in her immediate neighbourhood of Ranui in West Auckland and extending to Samoa, the USA and beyond, she provides a lens on what she describes as a ‘third-wave migration’ driven by diverse economic and social forces that propel the movement of Pacific Island communities from their homelands. Double Take invites us to reconsider these works for the critical insights they reveal of the artist’s use of and belief in the photographic medium. Suspended in place and time we see the inner and outer worlds of those pictured and, for a moment, envisage ourselves there.
Edith Amituanai (b. 1980, Auckland). In 2005 she completed a Bachelor of Design (majoring in photography) at Unitec Institute of Technology, before completing a Master of Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland in 2009. In 2007, Amituanai was the first recipient of the Art Foundation’s Marti Friendlander Photographic Award. The following year she was nominated for the Walters Prize at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. Amituanai undertook the Taipei Artist Village Residencyin 2014 and was the inaugural artist-in-residence at the Hastings City Art Gallery in 2017. She has exhibited extensively in galleries and museums across Aotearoa and internationally in Australia, Austria, Taiwan, Germany and France. Her artwork is held in national collections including Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and Govett-Brewster Art Gallery. Amituanai is represented by Anna Miles Gallery, Auckland.
Ane Tonga is an artist and curator of Tongan descent based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa New Zealand. She is the inaugural Curator, Pacific Art at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. Previously, she was the Lead Exhibition Curator at Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa and has undertaken curatorial roles and delivered exhibition projects across Aotearoa.
Exterior gallery view, Edith Amituanai: Double Take, curated by Ane Tonga, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2019. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Installation view, Edith Amituanai: Double Take, curated by Ane Tonga, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2019. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Edith Amituanai, from left: The Blue Lagoon, 2008; Francine, 2008; Rob and Harry, 2004, c-type photographs, collection of the artist. Installation view, Edith Amituanai: Double Take, curated by Ane Tonga, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2019. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Edith Amituanai, The Blue Lagoon, 2008, c-type photograph, collection of the artist. Installation view, Edith Amituanai: Double Take, curated by Ane Tonga, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2019. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Installation view, Edith Amituanai: Double Take, curated by Ane Tonga, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2019. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Edith Amituanai, from left: Hips, 2011, pigment inkjet print; Beanie, 2011, pigment inkjet print, collection of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. Installation view, Edith Amituanai: Double Take, curated by Ane Tonga, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2019. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Installation view, Edith Amituanai: Double Take, curated by Ane Tonga, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2019. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Installation view, Edith Amituanai: Double Take, curated by Ane Tonga, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2019. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Installation view, Edith Amituanai: Double Take, curated by Ane Tonga, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2019. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Edith Amituanai, Miss Amituanai, 2005, c-type photograph, collection of Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, Wellington. Installation view, Edith Amituanai: Double Take, curated by Ane Tonga, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2019. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Edith Amituanai, Mr and Mrs Sagapolu, 2005, c-type photograph, collection of the artist. Installation view, Edith Amituanai: Double Take, curated by Ane Tonga, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2019. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Edith Amituanai, White Sunday, 2005, c-type photograph, collection of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. Installation view, Edith Amituanai: Double Take, curated by Ane Tonga, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2019. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Edith Amituanai, Isaac with Dandelion on White Sunday, 2012, three pigment inkjet prints, collection of the artist. Installation view, Edith Amituanai: Double Take, curated by Ane Tonga, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2019. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Installation view, Edith Amituanai: Double Take, curated by Ane Tonga, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2019. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Left: Edith Amituanai, Ioka's Fa'ali'i, 2004, c-type photograph; Right: Shiloh Amituanai, Hoodstunnaz, 2019, hand-drawn digital wallpaper print, collection of the artist. Installation view, Edith Amituanai: Double Take, curated by Ane Tonga, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2019. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Shiloh Amituanai, Hoodstunnaz (detail), 2019, hand-drawn digital wallpaper print, collection of the artist. Installation view, Edith Amituanai: Double Take, curated by Ane Tonga, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2019. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Installation view, Edith Amituanai: Double Take, curated by Ane Tonga, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2019. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Edith Amituanai, from left: Ioka, 2004, c-type photograph, collection of University of Auckland; Ioka’s Fa’ali’i, 2004, c-type photograph. Installation view, Edith Amituanai: Double Take, curated by Ane Tonga, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2019. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Installation view, Edith Amituanai: Double Take, curated by Ane Tonga, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2019. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Installation view, Edith Amituanai: Double Take, curated by Ane Tonga, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2019. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Edith Amituanai, from left: Picnic with Starling, 2016; Sio walks the line, 2015, pigment inkjet prints. Installation view, Edith Amituanai: Double Take, curated by Ane Tonga, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2019. Photo: Shaun Matthews