Momota Sefesi
Heka Vaka
There are a number of overlapping fields in relation to my practice: Tongan traditional dance, gender, hierarchical kinship systems, as well as contemporary fields of performance art and digital media, and a notion of translation through my own experiences and perspectives of Tongan concepts.
The ideas within my practice were a learning curve, as I myself am a New Zealand born Tongan; these concepts or ideas were things I grew up knowing, and as I continued into art school I began to question the preservation of our beliefs and traditions.
I looked at the work of artist Kalisolaite 'Uhila based around the idea of Fa’e Huki (mother’s brother) where he acts as a table for his ‘eiki niece to eat on and as a chair for her to sit on. One could say it has an identity theme to it, but I like to think of it as one navigating through the ideas and customs of one’s culture.
Heka vaka translates to "going onto a boat". In saying this, my art practice could be a metaphor for an ocean; I am navigating through certain concepts or ideas within the Tongan culture.
