In Pasifika cultures, it's a no-brainer to call up your aunties, uncles, cousins, family members and friends to help with fundraisers. Rallying together is what we DO and do well. In Samoan culture there is a type of community fundraiser often hosted by schools, villages and churches called a tausala.

Globally, we live in an age that worships the new. The old is disregarded as we witness monumental global change and participate in deep–time alterations. Contemporary culture offers us activism by tweet; metaverse fever dreams; ideological warfare; humanoid immortality; and off-planet utopian fantasies. We’re seduced into feeding narcissistic distractions that demand constant input while populations are displaced by conflict and climate. In this age—founded by materialism, industrialisation and the spoils of empire—we view ourselves as intrinsically separate to nature: flora, fauna, organic and inorganic matter on this planet. Not only are we conditioned to take for granted a fictitious understanding that humanity is the singular possessor of agency, our sense of time has become dislocated and short-sighted.

It is usually taken for granted by museum visitors that archaeological objects are chronologically displayed according to certain scientific classifications. These methodologies serve a continuous historical narrative, either to promote simplified Darwinian evolution of humanity from primitive to modern, or patriotic sentiments. This methodology also guides the selection of the objects to be exhibited. Yet this leaves us with a rarely asked question—how about objects which cannot be integrated into the museum’s story, and thus are rendered as ‘others,’ by current museology?

Ko wai a Māpihi? This is not water is an exhibition backed by a lot of investigation conducted by the artists Cae and Nick and the communities and people who’s knowledge they have drawn on. Books and essays, as the research materials behind the scene, have also been included as an integral part of the resultant exhibition, the presence of which is of great importance to accomplish the artists’ aim in this exhibition.

Earlier this year we announced Eleanor Diaz Ritson as the Enjoy Contemporary Art Space 2022 summer resident artist. Four weeks into her residency at the Rita Angus Cottage in Thorndon, Enjoy’s assistant curator Tom Denize paid her a visit to see how her residency was going and bring some light to the inner workings of her practice. 

We’re pleased to announce Eleanor Diaz Ritson is our 2022 Summer Resident. A painter and writer based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Eleanor will join us as artist-in-residence from 14 February–26 March 2022, staying at the Rita Angus Cottage in Thorndon.

Haere mai whanau and join me, 2021 Tautai arts Intern Sophia Amore Coghini, while we indulge in the fourth in our series of artist interviews. 

Pōneke based artist Tallulah Farrar has created the digital illustration He Kanohi Kitea  that now enlivens our communal reading room. Tallulah works across multiple mediums, such as digital illustration, textiles, mosaic, murals and animation. Drawing inspiration from the everyday, she uses bright colour and pattern to capture moments of ordinary beauty. Tallulah uses her practice as a tool for playful escapism, influenced by nostalgia and growth. Let's see what she's been up to.

Tom Denize is currently studying for a BFA at Massey University and has been interning at Enjoy for 2021 as part of the Massey internship elective. Part of Tom's work at Enjoy has been reviving the reading/writing group. The in person meet-ups are on hold due to COVID-19 Alert Level 3 and 2 restrictions, so here are some of Tom's top reading picks.

Tautai arts intern Sophia Amore Coghini is back at it again, with the third in a series of artist interviews. We continue with Tāmaki Makaurau artists whose planned exhibitons at Enjoy have been disrupted or rescheduled due to Covid restrictions.

Ziggy Lever has had his 2021 exhibition rescheduled to later this year (fingers crossed and COVID-19 alert levels permitting). His art reconsiders archives as provisional arrangements of images and matter, opening up the possibility to renegotiate sites of knowing and not knowing. 

Here's what Ziggy's been up to. 

Join Tautai arts intern Sophia Amore Coghini for the second in a series of interviews with artists on what they got up to this lockdown. We're starting with Tāmaki Makaurau artists whose planned exhibitons at Enjoy have been disrupted or rescheduled due to COVID-19 Alert level 4 and 3 restrictions.

Artist Hanna Shim 심한나 has had her 2021 exhibition rescheduled to Feburary 2022. Shim identifies herself as a maker, often working in large scale fabric sculpture. Her works talk about naivety with a sinister undertone. The works may seem cute, but are filled with unexpected twists and irony.

Here's what Hanna has been up to lately. 

Enjoy our new series of artist interviews, conducted by Tautai Arts Intern Sophia Amore Coghini, for a cheeky little insight into what several artists got up to this lockdown. We're starting with Tāmaki Makaurau artists whose planned exhibitons at Enjoy have been disrupted or reschedueled due to COVID-19 Alert level 4 and 3 restrictions.

Artist Ruby 嫦潔 White's exhibition Pieces of  is in its final week at Enjoy. Ruby's ceramic works/cookers/creatures are currently stranded in Te Whanganui a Tara until restrictions are lifted allowing Ruby to come pick them up.

This introductory essay was written by Grace Ryder for Help Yourself an exhibition co-authored by Turumeke Harrington and Grace Ryder with Sarah Hudson, Saskia Leek, Kristin Leek and Greta Menzies (28 May-10 July 2021).

The reading list that follows includes texts referenced in Ryder's writing as well as readings and books instrumental to Harrington and Ryder's respective practices, their friendship and their collaborative work devising Help Yourself. Copies of these texts are available in Enjoy's reading room for the duration of the exhibition.

This reading list was compiled by artist Areez Katki alongside the exhibition History reserves but a few lines for you at Enjoy (19 Feb–3 April 2021). 

The texts below have been instrumental to the artist’s research and practice, with many works in the show responding to the poems and themes of the titles below.

Enjoy sells a small but beautiful range of artist-led and small-press publications, including titles from our own archive of two decades of publishing. In this post, former Gallery Administrator Nina Dyer takes a look through our shelves and offers insight into some of her top picks.

Nina has recently moved to Tāmaki Makaurau, where she has taken on the role of Exhibition Curator and Manager at Depot Artspace.

We’re pleased to share that Ruby 嫦潔 White is our 2021 Summer Resident. Currently based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Ruby will join us in Pōneke from 1 February–14 March 2021, staying at the Rita Angus Cottage in Thorndon. 

Our exhibition This is a library draws upon curator Hanahiva Rose’s ongoing research into Pacific exhibition histories in Aotearoa. Here, Rose shares a list of readings and resources that contributed to her thinking, and offer insight into the practices of the four artists included in the show: Teuane Tibbo, Claudia Jowitt, Christina Pataialii and Salome Tanuvasa.

In August 2019, Enjoy presented Matavai Taulangau’s solo exhibition Ma‘u Pe Kai. Documenting three kumala harvests—one by the Tongan community in Okaihau, Northland, one by the artist’s mother in nearby Kaikohe, and one by the artist in Tāmaki Makaura—Taulangau’s moving image installation highlighted forms of labour that are often overlooked, emphasising the value of people and their experience.

Taulangau invited friend and fellow artist Salome Tanuvasa, whose work is included in our current exhibition This is a library, curated by Hanahiva Rose, to reflect on his work. We’re delighted to share Tanuvasa’s text with you.

When Enjoy relocated earlier this year, we established a new reading room and multi-use space, and expanded our library collections through a number of generous donations from art spaces and publishers from Aotearoa, as well as new purchases from international art publishers such as World Food Books, Printed Matter and Sternberg Press. In this post, archive and library intern Connie Brown previews some of her favourite new titles. Enjoy’s reading room is an open-access resource for students, artists, writers and the general public for reading, research and collaboration. We invite you to pop in anytime during our opening hours and read some of these new books!

Between May 2018 and April 2019, Enjoy's former archives and library intern Imogen Simmonds catalogued and rehoused our archive, making it easier to navigate and accessible to visitors in our new reading room. In this series of blog posts, Imogen reflects on interesting moments from Enjoy’s 19-year history, and considers how our past projects have helped shape who we are today. Read Snapshot #1 here. Read Snapshot #2 here.

Between May 2018 and April 2019, Enjoy's former archives and library intern Imogen Simmonds catalogued and rehoused our archive. In this series of blog posts, Imogen reflects on interesting moments from Enjoy’s 19-year history, and considers how our past projects have helped shape who we are today. Read Snapshot #1 here.