The Pacific Sisters are a unique art collective that work across, performance, music, fashion, and film. They reached an important milestone in 2018 when a major retrospective of their work over the last 26 years was held at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and opened by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Members of the group are important artists in their respective fields and their work over the past decades has immense cultural value for the Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland region and has made wide impact nationally and internationally.

Mururoa

'Mururoa' protests the environmental destruction caused by French nuclear tests at Mururoa Atoll between 1966 to 1996. The post-apocalyptic figure is a troubled protector of a world devastated by their own actions. The challenge: to stop the desecration of motu (lands), moana (oceans), and ultimately tagata (people).

'Mururoa' is one of three new aitu / avatar along with 'Supa Suga' and 'Tohu Tūpuna' that embody the kaupapa / philosophy of Pacific Sisters’ fashion activist works. Made by many hands, the collective has combined techniques and materials to adorn and bring life to the lyrics of three iconic waiata / pese / imene / songs written and sung by Sister Henry Ah-Foo Taripo.

The three aitu encapsulate longstanding and fundamental messages that are important to Pacific Sisters; of protecting the environment, indigenous sovereignty, having freedom of self-expression and encouraging the best from humanity, to be your own superhero.

Layers of handmade natural and industrial *accessification adorn each aitu and help to illustrate and express the concepts behind each waiata.

* Pacific Sisters term for adorning with accessories to excess (“more is more”).

Following information provided by Pacific Sisters:

"List of individual taonga measina and makers: Feeonaa Clifton, Ani O’Neill, Lisa Reihana and Suzanne Tamaki

‘Cyclops in Radioactive Paradise’ Mask, plastic, 4-plait orange and black raffia, cowrie shell, paint, glass bead, kikau/coconut leaf midrib, Job’s-tears seed: Feeonaa Clifton.

Whakapapa: The mask is an upcycled welding helmet found in a second-hand stall at Avondale Markets. The universal radiation symbol sits on its surface with orange and black woven raffia, the colouring references safety workwear. The cords are tied off on the inside of the helmet, in an ‘explosion’ formation. Although unseen, it marks the underwater nuclear testing that continued for many years before finally being banned. Job’s-tears seeds are a traditional material symbolising mourning. They are thread onto the kikau/coconut midrib, a hugely versatile material used widely in the Moana Pacific region. The blackened cowrie shell disk prevents its wearer from seeing. They are blinded by the destruction and devastation of the environment and its people. By wearing a mask, the identity, pain and suffering of the aitu is also obscured, perhaps almost forgotten. The masks’ shiny surface reflects the viewer who is able to see themselves in the mask of the protector, questioning the roles we all continue to play as both protectors and destroyers of our environment.

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‘Ulu Tapu, Tagata Tapu, Fanua Tapu’ Umbilical Cord Hair Piece, plaited Fau/Hau/Kiri’au, reflective ribbon, cowrie shell, paint,: Feeonaa Clifton and Ani O'Neill.

Whakapapa: The head, the people, and the land, - we are all connected. They are all tapu (sacred). Hair holds the DNA of a person, and this natural hair now holds a streak of radiation within it, forever changing the makeup of the people of the Pacific. The blackened fish is a stark reminder of the dead fish that were often seen raining down from the sky after nuclear bombs were detonated at these atolls.

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‘Hear No More’ Blackened Shell Earrings, cowrie shell, paint, cord: Feeonaa Clifton.

Whakapapa: ‘No Nukes’ a famous catch cry in the battle for a Nuclear-Free Pacific. What other pollution and environmental destruction continues and without action to fall on ‘deaf ears’?

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‘Kōiwi Wetekoti Bone’ Waistcoat, cow & sheep bones, jute, shell: Suzanne Tamaki.

Whakapapa: One of the oldest Pacific Sisters taonga measina and now part of this work, the waistcoat is a ‘signature’ Pacific Sisters look, its form deriving from the crossing of shells and beads seen throughout the Moana Pacific region. Designed to protect the mana of the maker and whomever wears it, this waistcoat was originally made in 1997 for a costume called ‘Te Po’. In the Maaori language the word iwi carries the dual meaning of ‘bone’ and ‘tribal people’. These bones were scavenged from Makara Beach, which is also the source of one of the Mauri stones found over twenty years later and currently placed inside the Museum display case with the aitu. In this work the bones also reference the bones of people’s hands that became visible when illuminated by the blinding light from nuclear bomb explosions – this alarming description told by some of the earliest first-hand witnesses to this new atomic weapon.

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‘Reflective Deflective Tiputa’ Chest piece, reflector material: Feeonaa Clifton.

Whakapapa: The form of this piece is based on a Cook Islands’ tiputa (poncho) traditionally made from tapa. This tiputa is made from high-visibility reflective material as seen in safety workwear, and it protects the wearer acting as a deflective shield. This piece aims to highlight how Moana Pacific people are over-represented in high-risk health and wellbeing statistics in our society and continue to risk their own health and safety – in often low paid ‘essential’ jobs on the front line for the benefit of others.

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‘Hanging Around in Radioactive Paradise’ Necklace, upcycled pearl shell, plastic, cord, pearl shell buttons: Feeonaa Clifton.

Whakapapa: The high-viz twisted plastic creates a sheen across the pearl shell, reflecting the radioactive waste that has insidiously polluted our Moana Nui a-Kiwa/ Pacific Ocean and our whenua/lands.

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‘O.T.T.T.T (Over-The-Top-Titi)’ Skirt, videotape, raffia, pearl shell, cord: Ani O'Neill.

Whakapapa: Made using video tape, a resource and obsolete technology that from the 1980’s - 2000’s. Plastic raffia is another material that people of the Moana use, often replacing the natural kiri’au/fau/hau of their home islands when resources become scarce or when they move into cities, industrial areas or new countries. The tītī is a short fringe skirt, usually worn as a decorative belt over a main pareu skirt. Here the pearl decorations are sparse, using discarded pearl shells that have had their centres cut from them. They are reflective - to catch the light, but the hole also reflects the dark practice of nuclear testing in the Pacific Ocean, and the loss, helplessness and anger we feel as people of the Pacific.

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‘Amabandages’, ‘water print’ denim, fluorescent red nylon stocking: Ani O’Neill and Lisa Reihana.

Whakapapa: These pieces of fabric are recycled from Lisa Reihana’s work: ‘Mai i te aroha, ko te aroha’ - a long term installation that was made for the Te Ara a Hine, Te Papa Museum of New Zealand in 2008. They are offcuts and have been used as emergency bandages to help hold melting skin. The stockings are used to give the impression of radioactive flesh.

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‘Shockwave Maro’, ‘water print’ denim: Ani O'Neill and Lisa Reihana.

Whakapapa: These pieces of denim fabric that form this Maro - are taken as offcuts from Lisa Reihana’s work: ‘Mai i te aroha, ko te aroha’ - a long term installation that was made for the Te Ara a Hine, Te Papa Museum of New Zealand in 2008.

The original maro from which this version is inspired, was made for Rosanna Raymond by Niwhai Tupaea, using vintage velvet fabric from a favourite skirt of Rosanna’s. It was initially used for a PLANET magazine shoot (circa 1993), photographed by Greg Semu and worn by Bonny Proctor. In 2011 it was worn by Henzart in the Pacific Sisters’ ‘Eyekonic’ show, while he sung his song ‘Moruroa’. The new ‘Shockwave Maro’ visually emphasises the shock of a blast, the sound of the explosion, and the wave that then pushes out to all corners of our moana, affecting the world forever. True story!

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‘Meltdown Skin’ Ripped Layered Stockings, black nylon stocking: Ani O'Neill and Feeonaa Clifton.

Whakapapa: The ripped stockings has been a Pacific Sister’s staple garment for many years, reflecting the Sisters’ early links to DIY punk aesthetics and attitudes. Several aitu have worn this skin, including Niwhai Tupaea’s ‘NGARARA’, Suzanne Tamaki’s ‘KURUNGAITUKU’, and most notably worn by ‘21st Sentry Cyber Sister’ who resides in the Te Papa Collection (1997). Using stockings covers the skin and the body with a thin veil of ‘protection’ from eyes, from touch and prevents the wearer from being fully seen, hiding ‘alluring’ flesh and nakedness. Shredding the stockings rips up any illusion around being ‘nice’ or ‘safe’, and loudly and truthfully states that we have all been damaged in some form. Our aitu will fight for our stories to be heard and seen, as ultimately ALL LIFE is affected by the ongoing violence inflicted on our environment and to our planet.

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‘Radiation Falling’ Anklets, glass bead, pearl shell button, cord: Feeonaa Clifton and Ani O’Neill.

Whakapapa: Radiation falls all around on the ground we walk on.

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