“Spilt Milk (and hard honey)”
Benjamin Akuila, Leitu Bonnici, Emily Greenwood, Axel Iva, Etanah Lalau-Talapā, Jimmy Ma’ia’i, Manuha‘apai Vaeatangitau and Talia Smith
13 June → 8 Aug 2026
Gallery

installation view of spilt milk showing a large wall textile leather work and a collection of ceramic objects, some on the walls and some on some plinths.
'Spilt Milk (and hard honey)', installation view, 2026, with Benjamin Akuila and Manu Vaea in view, West Space. Photography by Janelle Low.

'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 Moana people who had migrated from their homelands. The reality however, differed greatly from the empty promises that were offered, with many Moana communities still feeling the effects almost thirty years later.

Spilt Milk (and hard honey) takes this phase as a challenge, inviting seven Moana heritage artists from Aotearoa and Australia to share their practices which have been cultivated in these ‘abundant’ lands. The artists are not afraid of who they are. They embrace their culture and connections to firmly state that Moana people will persevere no matter what history tells us.

Featuring newly commissioned and recent works by Benjamin Akuila (Tonga), Leitu Bonnici (Samoa), Emily Greenwood (Tonga), Axel Iva (Samoa), Etanah Lalau-Talapā (Samoa), Jimmy Ma’ia’i (Samoa), and Manuha‘apai Vaeatangitau (Tonga).

Guest curated by Talia Smith (Cook Islands, Samoa).

Opening Saturday 13 June

Artist talks, 3pm | Opening, 4 → 6pm

Talia Smith leads a walk-through of Spilt Milk (and hard honey) with the visiting artists as they introduce their practices and the works in the exhibition.

Artist night, Friday 3 July, 5 → 7pm
Our monthly invitation to visit our exhibitions then join us at Hope St Radio, directly downstairs from West Space. General Vibes weaves cool changes and sweaty warmth to bring textural delights of Island living to the dancefloor.

Radio Interview

Listen to Jimmy Ma'ia'i on ABC Pacific.

The artists of 'Spilt Milk (and hard honey)' standing in front of Leitu Bonnici's work: Manu Vaea, Benjamin Akuila, Axel Iva, Talia Smith, Jimmy Ma’ia’i, Etanah Lalau-Talapā and Emily Greenwood. Photography by Janelle Low.

“This is a celebratory project aimed at deepening the Trans-Tasman relationship between Moana artists, and for some, is the first time they have presented work outside of their city or country.
What is exciting about these artists is the way in which they are asserting their ‘creative sovereignty’ outside societal or art canon expectations. There is a confidence in their making that I admire. It brings me joy to see that this next link of the legacy of Moana art is not so afraid to voice their truth." — Talia Smith

The artists of Spilt Milk (and hard honey) have been supported to travel to West Space for the opening through the generosity of 76 individuals.

a guest stands in front of a large textile and leather artwork in the walls of the gallery. There is also a golden ceramic handbag sculpture on a plinth next to the viewer.
Two small white clay rectangular tiles with black bag motifs hang on a slight diagonal to each other on a white gallery wall.
A mesh piece of fabric draping from the ceiling with manulua symbols scattered across the surface.
A tv hung vertically on a white gallery wall featuring a blue and purple digital artwork by the artist Etanah Lalau-Talapā.
A textile tapestry hung from the ceiling with patches of white and red and an oval portrait of a figure with their face obscured by a line of text. Beneath the tapestry sits four stacks of two bricks each with their own two flags all in red and white.
an install shot of showing the back of a figure dressed in black looking at a large artwork on the wall make of textiles and leather. There is a golden handbag sculpture on a plinth in front of the figure.
A large green and gold textile work hangs on a white gallery wall. In the front a gold sculptural bag sits atop a black surfaced table plinth.
Close-up of two small clay sculptures - one gold and one black - hang from a keyring and twine from a white clay bag.
An audience member stands in front of bright windows in the gallery looking downward at the metal artwork on the floorboards.
A long horizontal row of cut out plywood characters sitting atop a wooden wall shelf on a white gallery wall.
Close-up of a white clay rectangle with a black bag motif sitting on a window ledge.
A small black clay figurine hangs by a keychain and twine from an exposed brick wall space.
Artist Jimmy stands next to his semi transparent textile artwork in the gallery. There are visible geometric shapes on the artwork
Etanah and Talia speak in the gallery infront of the windows standing next to a TV screen showing a digital artwork
an artist stands next to her hanging textile artwork of many red and white textiles sewn together in the shape on the Tongan flag including a black and white image of the Tongan queen. There are many red and white bricks on the ground below the work with little Tongan flags.
a woman with dark midlength hair and a black dress stands next to her large textile and leather artwork with her hand outstretched to touch the leather and textile fringing around the artwork.
Manu stands in front of an audience in the gallery addressing her large artworks displayed out of frame on the wall.
a well dressed figure in a light blue shirt and dark pants stands next to their artwork of a Pasifika style handbag sculpture.

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 Tongan artist and writer with Wiradjuri matrilineal ancestry living on Dharug land. Greenwood explores themes of intergenerational trauma, loss of culture and classism, using their practice to explore intersections between Eurocentric and Pasifika art histories and theories through cultural appropriation and adaptation. Their most significant work to date is their self-written, produced and published intersectional feminist zine ‘GRRL ZINE’.

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 in 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.

Talia Smith is an artist and curator from Aotearoa based in Sydney. Smith 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, MAMA Albury and Ballarat Foto Biennale among others. Her writing has appeared in publications such as Memo, Art New Zealand, artist catalogue essays and books. Smith has completed research residencies in Singapore, Germany and the Nordic region. She currently works as the Coordinator Programming at Blacktown Arts.

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Talia Smith, Spilt Milk (and hard honey)
2026