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Ema Tavola (born 1982) is an artist, curator, arts manager and advocate using art to centralise 'Pacific ways of seeing'.[1][2]
Ema Tavola | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1982 |
| Nationality | Fiji, New Zealand |
| Education | Manukau School of Visual Arts |
| Occupation | Artist & curator |
| Organization(s) | Founder of Fresh Gallery and Vunilagi Vou galleries in Auckland |
| Known for | Advocacy of Pacific art and artists |
Tavola was born in Fiji. Her father is from Dravuni in the Kadavu province of Fiji.[3][4] Her mother is a third generation Pākehā from Palmerston North in New Zealand.[3] While she was growing up she also lived with her family in London and Belgium.[3] As a teenager they moved to Wellington, New Zealand and she attended Wellington High School. After high school Tavola was having a gap year in Fiji and experienced the 2000 Fiji civilian coup.[3]
Returning to New Zealand Tavola went on to study a Bachelor of Visual Arts from Manukau School of Visual Arts in South Auckland, and got a job with Manukau City Council after graduating.[3]
In 2006 she founded the Fresh Gallery in Ōtara, Auckland as a partnership with Manukau City Council and the local community.[5] In 2013 it re-opened after expansion.[6]
Tavola has speaking engagements at conferences and other places. In 2019 she was a guest speaker at Para Site International Conference, Hong Kong, the Singapore Art Book Fair for NTU Centre for Contemporary Art (Singapore) and Spinning Triangles: Ignition of a School of Design for SAVVY Contemporary (Berlin, Germany / Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo).[4][7][8][9]
In 2019 Tavola opened an independent art gallery called Vunilagi Vou.[10]
Tavola's artworks are held the collections at Auckland Art Gallery.[11]
- 2016 – Dravuni: Sivia yani na Vunilagi – Beyond the Horizon - New Zealand Maritime Museum[12]
- 2017 – Kaitani – The Physics Room (New Zealand)[13]
- 2018 – A Maternal Lens – 4th International Biennial of Casablanca (Morocco)[14]
- 2018 – Dravuni: Sivia yani na Vunilagi – Beyond the Horizon - Oceania Centre for Arts, Culture and Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific (Fiji)[4]
2017 – Pacific Studies Artist in Residence – University of Canterbury Macmillan Brown Centre
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