‘Red Wave is a story of two intertwined journeys: the birth and growth of the Oceania Centre for Arts and Culture, and the singular trajectories of its (now)-celebrated artists.

One could be tempted to sit back and say: ‘Finally, a book on our very own Pacific artists’. But Red Wave is much more than a good-looking book about contemporary art of the region. It is a reflection about a unique place/space and its creator: the Oceania Centre and Professor Epeli Hau’ofa; it is about the practice of art in the Pacific, and the difficulties encountered; and it is about the artists themselves.

Katherine Higgins does justice to the Oceania Centre for Arts and Culture: she captures its spirit as well as that of its founder Hau’ofa, and his quest for a place where artists can draw on their own pools of knowledge and skills to create freely and in community.

As Higgins points out, the Oceania Centre does not impose nor dictate to artists; it does not tell them whose style they should copy or build on; it does not ‘train’ or teach them; but it does ensure they can use what they already have—the stories, words, images, symbols of their gods, ancestors, land, families, friends or foes—to create new images which speak with colour about today’s Pacific. 

At the Oceania Centre, the visual artists Higgins focuses on do not just paint or sculpt —they dance, sing, and build sets so that the performing artists (who can also paint) can look good too.

This is not just a question of sharing, although the ethos of reciprocity is held dearly at the centre, but is also a reflection of the knowledge base of many Pacific artist. They are not one-dimensional. Just as in Pacific societies, many can dance and sing as well as carry out a multitude of other tasks, so it is with the Red Wave artists.

And it is precisely this cultural wealth, so often ‘trained out’ of students, that Hau’ofa has sought to give its rightful place to. In the spirit of the Oceania Centre, Higgins’ book gives centre stage to the artists.

The book resonates with their art but also with their voices: Ben Fong, who dreams of a kinder, gentler, more tolerant Fiji; Pita Waqanui Jnr, who, like his matanivanua great-grandfather, feels he must keep communicating with his village and record its stories; Lingikoni Vaka’uta, who paints in Tongan metaphors; and Mason Lee, who has learnt to listen to his inner voice.

The Red Wave artists not only have a lot to show: they have a lot to say and to teach.

—Dr Elise Huffer
SPC Human Development Programme Adviser (Culture)
New Caledonia