Present Encounters : Papers from the conference of the Second Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, 1996

Western Samoa, came to an end . This sprawling event showcased the creative endeavou rs of the diverse fi rst nation peoples of the region. No distinctions were d rawn between art forms or traditional or customary and contemporary practices. I ncl usiveness and comprehensiveness were striven fo r. The first of these festivals was held in Fiji in 1 972, and from the outset they have been wel l supported by the Maori and Pacific Arts Committee o f New Zealand's Arts Counci l , now Te Waka Toi (the Maori Arts Board) and t he South Pacific Arts Comm ittee o f Creative New Zealand (the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa) . I n 1 993 Te Waka Toi toured an exh ibition o f contemporary Maori art through North America and Hawai'i. The S ixth Festival of Pacific Arts held in the Cook Isl ands in 1 992 was notable for the concourse of waka (vaka, va'a) that assembled i n Rarotonga after voyag ing from distant points of origi n in Te Moananui-a-Kiwa . The most heroic voyage was that of the waka from New Zealand , commanded by Hekenukumai Busby. For the first time in perha ps five or six hundred years descendants had retu rned by waka to the exact spot in Rarotonga from whi ch their ancestors had departed for Aotearoa all those generations ago. This, as you may wel l imagine, was a deeply profound and emotional event for all who witnessed i t . From t h i s poi nt the comparison of waka traditions began in earnest and continues to this day. As the guardians of the traditions, the stories and the genealogies handed down through the generations meet to compare their stories, so the past, our past, unfolds. There is a g reat future for us in that past. Hek Busby was the recipient of the prestigious Te Waka Toi Award in 1 996 for h is outstandi ng leadership and contribution to the revival of the waka in Aotearoa/New Zealand as wel l as i n other islands of Te Moananui-a-Kiwa . Severa l centres - or perhaps crossroads is a better term - for the arts of Te Moananui-a-Kiwa are emerging at the present time. Hawai'i is, of cou rse, wel l placed to be the pri ncipal crossroads between East and West, North and South . New Zealand , more particularly the cities of Manukau (South Auckland) and Porirua (near Wellington) , is a melti ng pot for the cultures of the South Pacific. From these centres a new urban Pacific culture is emerging. A third contender is on the rise: the French-Polynesian territory of New Caledonia. A little way out of Noumea the remarkable Centre Cu lture! Jean-Marie Tjibaou, designed by Renzo Piano, is neari ng competition . This ambitious development has the potential to re-draw the cultura l map of the Pacific. Although the primary function of the Centre wil l be to celebrate Kanak h istory and culture , it also aims to become a centre for the I nd igenous cultures of the reg ion. To that end an important col lection of contemporary Pacific art is bei ng assembled , and several major works from that col lection were lent for exhibition at the Second Asia­ Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art. The Centre is expected to host the Eighth Festival of Pacific Arts in the year 2000. In January 1 995 Te Atinga, originally Te Waka Toi's Contemporary Maori Visual Arts Committee, sponsored an i nternationa l symposium of I ndigenous artists i n Rotorua . This brought together contempora ry artists from the island nations and territories of Te Moananu i­ a-Kiwa , as well as native Ameri cans from the West Coast of North Ameri ca a nd one artist from Japan . When Lisa Reihana remarks that 'the I ndigenous network can be qu ite close', she is referring not only to the fact that the distances that once separated us have been collapsed by the g lobal telecommunications and transport network that sees us now 'riding the airwaves' and 'surfi ng the I nternet' but to the strong bonds, the emotional ties, the sense of family, the 'closeness', the aroha (love) that is further consolidated each time the artists meet. I n August 1 996, at the Re-imagining the Pacific conference in Canberra , Judy Watson , a prominent I nd igenous Australian artist, prefaced her presentation with an affectionate and sincere acknowledgment of t he I ndigenous artists she had encountered a t t he Rotorua symposium . One Maori artist, John Bevan Ford , had been so i nspired by their presence that he launched i nto a series of works on paper entitled 'Te Aitanga a Kiwa - The Progeny of Kiwa : the Peoples and Lands of the Pacific Rim'. In these works he paid homage to each and 34