A WOMAN, 500KG OF ICE, A SHOVEL, AND THE STEADY WALK FROM POINT A TO POINT B. BACK AND FORTH, SHE WORKS THE OPEN-CUT MINES OF THE PAST INTO THE FUTURE OF CLIMATE CHANGE; EXCAVATING THE SOLID WHITE ROCK INTO INVISIBILITY.
What remains in the aftershocks of empire? Such effects reside in the corroded hollows of landscapes. The question is pointed: How do imperial formations persist in their material debris, in ruined landscapes and through the social ruination of people’s lives? – Ann Stoler cited in Katerina Teaiwa, 2015.

Latai Taumoepeau is a Punake, body-centered performance artist; her story is of her homelands, the Island Kingdom of Tonga and her birthplace, the Eora Nation – Sydney, and everything far and in-between. Latai activates Indigenous philosophies and methodologies; crosspollinating ancient practices of ceremony with her contemporary processes & performance work to re-interpret, re-generate and extend her movement practice and its function in and from Oceania.

Latai Taumoepeau’s 2016 UK appearances are co-presented by SPILL Festival of Performance and SACRED:Homelands Festival