Low Tide
upcoming
15 Feb
–
29 Mar
In Low Tide, Manuha’apai Vaeatangitau (Manu Vaea) explores themes of queer mundanity, grief, malaise and regret. Through the mundane, Vaea counteracts the pressure to be extraordinary and instead highlights the quiet, repetitive and mostly unremarkable moments that define a daily life. Freed from dramatic narratives that are often assigned to queerness, Low Tide draws from the undercurrent of emotions we do not necessarily express.
Manuha’apai Vaeatangitau (Lapaha, ‘Utulau, Tongatapu), an interdisciplinary artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau, explores themes of eroticism and critical fabulation, reasserting queer Pacific identities in social and cultural contexts. A 2019 Prime Minister’s Pacific Youth Award winner in Arts and Creativity, her work has been exhibited in Auckland and Wellington. Key projects include her 2021 solo exhibition Tupu’anga o Leitī at Moana Fresh Kū Kahiko Gallery, the 2022 installation Kindred: A Leitī Chronicle with Sione Monū at Auckland Art Gallery, and her 2023 Aniva Arts Residency exhibition Koe Tau’atāina o e Leitī at Pātaka Art + Museum. In 2024, she contributed to Auckland Art Gallery’s Aotearoa Contemporary triennial.