“Spilt Milk (and hard honey)”
Benjamin Akuila, Leitu Bonnici, Emily Greenwood, Axel Iva, Etanah Lalau-Talapā, Jimmy Ma’ia’i and Manuha‘apai Vaeatangitau
13 June → 8 Aug 2026
Gallery
“The land of milk and honey”, originally a biblical phrase, was used in the 1960s and ‘70s to describe Aotearoa and Australia as lands of abundance for the Pasifika people who had migrated from their homelands. The reality however, differed greatly from the empty promises that were offered, with many Pasifika communities still feeling the effects almost thirty years later.
Spilt Milk (and hard honey) takes this phase as a challenge, inviting seven artists of Pasifika heritage whose practices have been cultivated in these ‘abundant’ lands. These artists are not afraid of who they are. They embrace their culture and connections to firmly state that Pasifika people will persevere no matter what history tells us.
Featuring newly commissioned and recent works by Benjamin Akuila (Tonga, Ireland), Leitu Bonnici (Samoa), Emily Greenwood (Tonga), Axel Iva (Samoa), Etanah Lalau-Talapā (Samoa), Jimmy Ma’ia’i (Samoa, Scotland), and Manuha‘apai Vaeatangitau (Tonga).
Guest curated by Talia Smith.
Support
We are seeking funds to support the four Aotearoa based artists to travel to Melbourne.
Donations will cover flights, accommodation and freight costs for Axel Iva, Etanah Lalau-Talapā, Jimmy Ma’ia’i, and Manu Vaea.
Make a contribution
“International opportunities for artists in Aotearoa are crucial for professional development. They allow artists to see their work contextualised in a different setting, to find new audiences, and can lead to future opportunities and connections with other Pasifika artists.
This is a celebratory project aimed at deepening the Trans-Tasman relationship between Pasifika artists, and for some, will be the first time they have presented work outside of their city or country. I am thrilled to work with this talented group of artists to keep pushing the exposure and knowledge of what Pasifika art can be today." — Talia Smith
Talia Smith is an artist and curator from Aotearoa who is now based in Sydney, Australia. She is of Cook Island, Samoan and Pakeha heritage. She has curated exhibitions for organisations such as the Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney, Singapore International Photography Festival, IMA, UTS Gallery and Ballarat Foto Biennale among others. Her writing has appeared in various publications such as Memo, Art New Zealand and artist catalogue essays and books. She has completed research residencies in Singapore, Germany and the Nordic region. She currently works as the Coordinator Programming at Blacktown Arts.
Benjamin Akuila is a multidisciplinary artist of Tongan and Irish descent living and working on Eora and Dharug Country. Akuila’s work explores ideas of cultural authenticity and identity performances within the Tongan-Australian diaspora through the material use of clay. Through investigating societal constructs of history, identity, and gender, Akuila utilises humour and heliaki (allusion) to subvert these preconceived notions. Akuila's work reinterprets traditional Tongan artmaking and applies these practices to contemporary materials to explore new narratives of identity.
Leitu Bonnici is a graphic designer, filmmaker and artist based between Naarm (Melbourne) and the Netherlands. As a tagata Sāmoa, they are proud to belong to the Great Ocean, which spans over a third of the world’s surface and is home to diverse continuing Indigenous histories that span thousands of years. Their practice critically examines ‘the archive’ and ‘the publication’, utilising various interdisciplinary and anti-disciplinary methodologies that challenge pālagi myths (inaccurate narratives plotted along contrived linear timeframes that are granted unearned authority by Eurocentric forms of information collation and dissemination).
Emily Greenwood is a mixed-Tongan, multidisciplinary artist and underground writer living on Dharug land. Their work explores themes involving intergenerational trauma, loss of culture and classism. They use their practice as a vehicle to explore the intersections between Eurocentric and Pasifika art histories and theories through their practice of cultural appropriation and adaptation. Their most significant work to date is their self- written, produced and published intersectional feminist zine ‘GRRL ZINE’. Emily recognises their Wiradjuri matrilineal ancestry and is privileged to have spent their formative years on unceded Burramattagal land.
Axel Iva is a Samoan artist with bloodlines from Apolima, Iva, Salelavalu and Salelologa, born and based in Māngere East, Tāmaki Makaurau. Iva’s creative practice involves craft and design, ranging from tactile techniques to technological applications. His exploration of semantics, semiotics and Samoan life catalyse his seriocomic pieces and concepts in the form of installation, sculpture, print and digital media.
Etanah Lalau-Talapā is a multi-disciplinary artist and curator of Afega and Sa'anapu heritage from Samoa. Her work spans across public installations, digital art, mixed media and photography, often exploring motherhood, family lineage and lived experiences of the Pacific diaspora in Aotearoa. Lalau-Talapā's interest lies at the intersection of discovering new visual languages that bridges traditional and contemporary creative forms, while reflecting on her Samoan cultural heritage.
Jimmy Ma’ia’i is an installation artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland whose practice utilises found objects and materials, and the readymade. Of Sāmoan and Scottish descent, Ma’ia’i draws upon mixed-heritage experiences, cultural dislocation and the impact of colonisation in his artworks.
Manuha‘apai Vaeatangitau (also known as Manu Vaea) is Tongan and identifies as Leitī, the Tongan third gender. Across illustration, poetry, performance, music and acting, their creative work responds to themes of cultural transformation, seeking to assert queer Pacific identities into social and cultural visibility. Manu Vaea received the Creative New Zealand and Massey University Arts and Creativity Award at the 2019 Prime Minister's Pacific Youth Awards.