On November 22nd, PICAA Inc. was invited to share in the blessing and acknowledgement ceremony of the newly-opened ART OF THE PACIFIC gallery at National Gallery of Victoria. Upon invitation by NGV’s First Nations Art’s Senior Curator, Dr. Jessica Clark and Contemporary Art’s Curator Sophie Oxenbridge, we blessed the new display with a spiritual and cultural expression of poetry, oratory and song.

Our choir director, ethnomusicologist Dr. Rita Seumanutafa-Palala spoke about the importance of Pacific creative arts in Australia, and the role that PICAA plays in promoting and providing a platform for this. PICAA’s Director of Theatre, Fulisia Asalemo Tofete debuted his spoken piece “How not to Art in the Pacific”- an offering of empowerment and understanding for everyone in the room. Fulisia then led the Pasefika Vitoria Choir into song, a Fijian hymn ‘Noqu Masu’ (‘This is my prayer’), concluding the blessing with a spiritual statement of who we are as Pasefika peoples.

The event also hosted a number of talanoa, with indigenous creatives sharing their work: Dr. Kirsten Garner Lyttle (Aotearoa NZ), and Lisa Waup (Torres Strait Islands). To see more of their work and the rest of the ART OF THE PACIFIC display, see info here. It is free entry and the display will be up until October 2026 – so be sure to catch it while you’re in Melbourne!

We want to thank our hosts, the National Gallery of Victoria for sharing the event, and inviting us co-develop a beautiful moment for our Pasefika creatives and community leaders. We look forward to working together again in the near future.

Stay creative fams!