Board of Trustees
Governance
Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust operates under a Charitable Trust Deed and its amendments which have been lodged with the Registrar of Incorporated Societies in New Zealand. A Certificate of Incorporation was issued for Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust under the Charitable Trusts Act 1957 on 23rd June 1995. The trust deed provides for the appointment and election of trustees who comprise a Board with responsibility for the governance of Tautai.
The Board of trustees bring a wide range of attributes and skills to their role of governance of Tautai. The trustees meet as a Board generally two monthly and under the trust rules the Chairperson and Treasurer and Secretary have been appointed.
The trustees of the Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust are:
Gina Cole was appointed a trustee in 2001 and has held the position of Chair of the Board of Trustees since 2005. She is of Fijian/Scottish descent. Gina was admitted to the bar as a barrister and solicitor in 1991 and practices law on her own account as a Barrister Sole. Gina has wide experience as a litigator in the areas of commercial, company, civil, resource management, Maori land, and family law and her other governance experience includes three years as an executive member of the Auckland Women Lawyers Association.
Ron Brownson has been a trustee since 2001 and is Senior Curator New Zealand and Pacific Art at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki. He holds a Master of Arts (Honours) and is on the advisory Boards of Auckland University of Technology Faculty of Art and Design and Manukau Institute of Technology School of Art and Design. Ron has edited numerous art publications and has a special interest in NZ and Pacific photography. Among his many exhibition projects have been John Ioane: Falesa and John Pule: People get ready, and with Fuli Pereira he curated for Tautai the major exhibition of contemporary pacific art Le Folauga at Auckland Museum in 2007.
Colin Jeffery joined the Board in December 1999 and is the appointed Trust Secretary and Treasurer. Colin is professionally qualified as a Chartered Accountant and holds a senior management and financial accounting role with a major corporate. He is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants and of the Chartered Secretaries New Zealand Incorporated. Colin has a long-standing interest in the art of contemporary pacific artists and through those contacts has been a supporter of Tautai since its inception.
Cerisse Palalagi of Maori (Te Arawa) & Niuean (Tuapa) descent graduated with a BFA from Elam school of fine Arts, Auckland University in 2000. Since graduating, Palalagi has successfully exhibited in group exhibitions both nationally & internationally. Cerisse was a participant in the 'Pocahontas Meets Hello Kitty'- Print portfolio which has recently been exhibited at the Richard F. Brush Art Gallery, St Lawrence University in Canton, New York and has had a solo exhibition, 'Ranea' at Fresh Gallery Otara, 2008. Cerisse is currently studying towards a Masters of Art & Design, at the Auckland University of Technology.
Graham Fletcher a New Zealand born Samoan, has been a practicing artist since 1997. His work to date has explored complex cultural issues within a post-colonial context. Graham has exhibited regularly in dealer and public galleries throughout New Zealand and abroad and has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards. His works are held in public and private collections as well as being extensively written about and documented. Graham has also taught as a part-time lecturer at Manukau School of Visual Arts and Unitec School of Design and is currently in his third year of his Doctorate of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland.
Janet Lilo of Maori (Nga Puhi), Samoa and Niue descent Lives and works in Auckland. She gained a Masters of Art and Design from The Auckland University of Technology (AUT) in 2007 and her solo exhibitions include 'Shot!', WK104 Lorne Street, Auckland (2006) ‘Top16’ St Paul St Gallery 3, Symonds St, Auckland (2007) & Fresh Gallery, Otara, Auckland (2008). Her art practice focuses on popular culture in New Zealand, through Video and Installation formats in both Gallery and non- Gallery spaces with a particular interest in experimental documentary and music video making.
Kolokesa MÄhina-Tuai has a BA in Art History and Anthropology and a MA (Hons) in Museums and Heritage Studies. She's interested in the tangible and intangible heritage of the Pacific, with a specific focus on Tonga, and the history of Pacific Peoples in New Zealand. As Curator of Pacific Cultures at Te Papa (from 2004-2008), the main exhibition she co-curated was 'Tangata o le Moana: The Story of Pacific People in New Zealand'. She also explored how the intangible heritage of Pacific cultures could be included in its Pacific Collections, which led to the inclusion of intangible heritage in Te Papa's Collection Development Policy. Kolokesa is also part of Kula-'Uli Publishing (NZ), a voluntary group set up to produce a series of bilingual Tongan and English language children's books based on Tonga's rich cultural and intangible heritage of myths and legends.
Dr Caroline Vercoe is the current HOD of the University of Auckland's Art History Department. She teaches Contemporary New Zealand and Pacific Art with a focus on issues of Gender and Postcolonial Theory. She published articles in the Journal of Pacific History, The Journal of New Zealand Art History and Art Asia Pacific and is a contributing author to Pacific Art Niu Sila: Pacific Heritage in the Arts (2002) Vercoe was advisor to Only Skin Deep: Changing Visions of the American Self (curated by Coco Fusco and Brian Wallis) shown at the Institute of Contemporary Photography in New York in 2003, and curatorial advisor for Paradise Now? Contemporary Art from the Pacific, a major exhibition examining contemporary art from New Zealand and the Pacific Islands at the Asia Society Museum in New York in 2004.