A Body of VA'rt

Abstract

How can a body act as a tool for decolonising performance? As an artist, my body has become a powerful space for my art practice and cultural heritage to come together, the past and the present. My Polynesian body is the genealogical vessel that collapses time and space, allowing our ancestors and the atua to have a presence in the Now. I live through them, and they live through me at the point of performance. In this, I follow the Ta/Va philosophy (Mahina, Wendt, Refiti, Tavita) as it has been vigorously circulated and exchanged for well over a decade within Polynesian academic, cultural and artistic circles. With this in mind (and body), I will present a visceral experience featuring aural, visual and performative elements, weaving in and out of spoken words, both academic and artistic, to demonstrate the power of the body as a vehicle to create works of VA’rt.