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Re-Stor(y)ing Oceania
Art exhibition
Artspace, Woolloomooloo, Sydney
Until April 6
Free entry

Re-Stor(y)ing Oceania is a Pacific-focussed art exhibition featuring two constructions by Indigenous artists from the region, Tongan Australian Latai Taumoepeau and Aotearoan (New Zealander) Elisapeta Hinemoa Heta, curated by Bougainville-born artist Taloi Havini. After launching at the Venice Open Space last year, the exhibition has come to Gadigal Country/Sydney, at the public gallery Artspace in Woolloomooloo.

With the climate crisis striking the Pacific region particularly hard, it is timely to see this issue highlighted in such a creative manner. In a combination of story, song, performance, action and activism, Re-Stor(y)ing Oceania “amplifies the voices of artists and their communities living in the vast and diverse region of the South Pacific Ocean”, the exhibition notes state.

Curator Taloi Havini comments: “Re-Stor(y)ing Oceania draws out what is important to these two very powerful commissions by Heta and Taumoepeau, as well as the many other voices they amplify.

“We have been weaving these ideas and experiences since the exhibition was first presented in Venice during the 2024 Biennale and now, we are pleased to bring the exhibition and extensive programs to Artspace, Sydney.

“The idea is to keep gathering and exchanging on the most urgent environmental issues, such as deep-sea mining in the Ocean and the daily climate crisis events that are happening in the history of this planet. Their stories are what will bring people together on these issues.”

���ٲ�’s The Body of Wainuiātea, 2024, is a “space for learning, sharing and reconnecting with ancestral stories”. Guided by the Māori concept of tikanga (ceremony and protocols) and Pacific architectural forms, Heta makes visible narratives that may have otherwise remained hidden, with a focus on Indigenous and ����󾱲Ա� (women’s) voices.

Earthen bricks are laid in a formation to honour the atea (Polynesian cosmogonies) and ancient stone structures across the moana (oceans). Eight seats are positioned in relation to the cardinal directions and the rising and setting of the sun.

Taumoepeau’s work Deep Communion (ArchipelaGO, THIS IS NOT A DRILL), immerses visitors in a sound and video installation that draws attention to the dangers of deep-sea mining in the Pacific. By inviting the public into a participatory performance using mechanical paddles, Taumoepeau inspires audiences to consider: who will do the work to exercise ecological responsibility?

Each stroke of the mechanical paddle sets off a recording of the song “Me’etu’upaki”, with visitors’ teamwork igniting the full chorus in an act of resistance to deep-sea mining. In front of the paddle machines are three large projections with video footage from the seafloor surrounding the island of Tonga.

[Artspace is holding a Closing Weekend Activation for Re-Stor(y)ing Oceania on Saturday April 5, from 11am–3pm. This involves a THIS IS NOT A DRILL performance activation from 11am–1pm, followed by a Salvador Brown performance with Pacific musical instruments from 1.30–2pm, and concluding with a First Nations Futurisms Panel Discussion from 2.30–3.30pm. Visit for more information on this and other exhibitions.]