Te Kaneati is a presentation of Banaban arts, culture and heritage by Tāmaki Makaurau’s Banaban community, presented alongside the exhibition Project Banaba by artist Katerina Teaiwa (Tabiang and Tabwewa) highlighting the resilience of the diaspora.
It follows a series of community-led, master-class workshops facilitated by Banaban elders with young Banaban community members that took place throughout 2021 and early 2022. The workshops were developed to strengthen Banaban cultural identity, language and creative arts, and to foster intergenerational relationships through sharing ancient knowledge and fostering connection to the homeland and its history.
Contemporary works made during these sessions will be exhibited at Te Uru, alongside bai aika kakawaki (treasures) from master-makers, co-curated by the Banaban Christian Fellowship Hub and Yuki Kihara. Together, these offer an account of Banaba’s unique cultural heritage, and of what it means to be Banaban in Tāmaki Makaurau today.
Te Kaneati is supported by Creative New Zealand.
Image: Auckland Banaban children with a diagram of the four Banaban villages. Courtesy of Lilian Corrie