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PACIFIC
OPERA SINGER, FILM MAKER & VISUAL ARTISTS |
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Courtesy of Creative New Zealand |
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Benjamin Fifita Makisi -
Iosefa Enari Memorial Award 2002:
Samoan-Tongan tenor Benjamin Fifita Makisi, who has completed a Master
of Music Performance at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, won the
2002 McDonald’s Operatic Aria competition in Australia, worth A$38,000.
He also won the 2001 Lockwood Aria in Rotorua, worth $15,000.
A graduate of Victoria University of Wellington, Makisi performed in
Classical Polynesia, a work created and directed by the late Iosefa
Enari. It was premiered at the 1998 International Festival of the Arts
in Wellington to critical acclaim.
“I am honoured to be the first recipient of this award,” Makisi said.
“Iosefa helped me find my feet and was a mentor to me. He understood
what it was like to encompass two worlds, combining Pacific Island
cultural values with Western ideals and the principles of being an
opera singer.”
Makisi was one of the principal singers in the NBR NZ Opera’s Winter
2003 Tour of The Barber of Seville, which toured nine centres in
partnership with Class Act Opera’
Johnny Penisula - Senior Pacific Islands Artist Award 2002:
At the age of 13, senior artist Johnny Penisula painted his first mural
in a church in his Samoan village. He celebrated his 21st birthday on a
banana boat between Apia and Fiji before flying to New Zealand to live
in 1962. After three months in Auckland, he settled in Invercargill
where he has practised his art for 30 years.
Combining traditional Samoan symbols with contemporary techniques and
tools, he works with a range of materials - stone, bone, steel, fibre
glass, wood. "Whatever's available," he said. His work can be found in
private and public collections in New Zealand, Australia, the United
States and England.
"My main aim is to promote Pacific art. In particular, I want to
inspire our youngsters to learn about their artistic heritage,"
Penisula said. "There's a lot of talent out there and hopefully, I can
find a way to point them in the right direction."
As a part-time tutor at the Southland Institute of Technology since
1989, he has encouraged and worked with hundreds of artists. |
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Samoan-Tongan tenor Benjamin Fifita Makisi - Iosefa Enari
Memorial Award 2002 recipient, performing with Iosefa Enari in
Classical Polynesia. |
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Samoan Peter Panoa - Emerging Pacific Islands Artist Award 200
recipient; is the Head of the Cinematography Department at the
School of Visual Arts in Sydney. |
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Samoan Johnny Penisula - Senior Pacific Islands Artist Award
2002 recipient & Cook Islands Richard Shortland Cooper - Pacific
Innovation and Excellence Award 2002 recipient. |
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Richard Shortland Cooper - Pacific Innovation and Excellence Award
2002:
Richard Shortland Cooper lives in Papatoetoe, Auckland with a Doctorate
in Fine Arts from Elam. His art-making has won numerous awards,
including a National Award for Excellence for his millennium public
sculpture, He Täonga Hiranga Whakanui Whanau, in Manukau.
Of Cook Islands descent, Cooper was the first New Zealand sculptor to
be invited to the 2001 International Sculpture Competition in France.
His work has been exhibited throughout New Zealand, in the United
States, France, Australia and the Pacific region.
A book on his art, My Journey, was published in 2001 to coincide with a
solo exhibition at the Studio of Contemporary Art Gallery in New
Market, Auckland. It author, John Daly-Peoples, says: "Richard's work
is constantly pushing boundaries, using new technologies and materials
to re-examine Mäori and Pacific symbols and stories."
Cooper says he hopes to complete his doctorate early next year and will
then prepare for a solo exhibition.
Peter Panoa - Emerging Pacific Islands Artist Award 2002:
Peter Panoa is a cinematographer, director, writer and producer in
film. Born in 1969, he grew up in Porirua and attended Porirua College.
He was the first Samoan New Zealander to be accepted into the
Australian Film Television and Radio School to study cinematography,
and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in film and television in
1994.
Now the Head of the Cinematography Department at the School of Visual
Arts in Sydney, Peter Panoa shares his knowledge of filmmaking in New
Zealand, Indonesia and Australia by running cinematography workshops
for people from minority groups.
He plans to return to New Zealand next year to run a second lighting
workshop (the first was in 2000) at Whitireia Polytechnic in Porirua.
"I want to encourage others to express their creative energy and
develop a career in the arts," he said. "I've been working in film
since 1994 and haven't come across any other Pacific filmmakers. I
believe there are one or two in New Zealand and I'd like to meet up
with them."
Panoa says that he will use the money he's received from the award to
help fund a short film, set in Western Samoa and New Zealand. At the
moment, he's writing the film script and trying to attract funding to
produce the film in New Zealand.
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Copyright Event Polynesia Ltd.
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