Pasifika Transmissions Presents: Mariquita "Micki" Davis And The Åcho' Atupat

LONG BEACH, Calif., May 28, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum (PIEAM) and Pasifika Transmissions proudly announces Mariquita "Micki" Davis as the final artist to present in the monthly distance learning series.

Mariquita "Micki" Davis is a CHamoru multimedia artist and educator living in Los Angeles. She is the co-curated and producer of Pasifika Transmissions. She is also a mentor and programmer working closely with various community organizations including: SoCal Pacific Islander COVID-19 Response Team and Visual Communications.

"Micki artistic multiplicities is through permission of ancestral lens, beautiful, cinematic and holds truth. Through this entire programming, she has carried and cared for all the Pasifika Transmissions artists, so it clearly said by this åcho' atupat ancestor that may it be the one now to carry her," says Aunty Fran. PIEAM Director.

Micki will share works and story inspired by her time spent with the åcho' atupat, a CHamoru slingstone that temporarily resides at PIEAM. Aunty Fran Lujan received the slingstone as a gift from representatives of the Guam Museum, prior to the construction of the Guam Museum's new building.

"When I learned I was paired with the slingstone, I had a slow reaction and realization process." says Davis. "Once it all fully clicked, I got this huge feeling of intimidation, not unlike some of the other Pasifika Transmissions artists. I understand that this is a very special and big responsibility. Luckily, I had several of our artists who I could look to for guidance in the process."

This Pasifika Transmission will debut on Friday May 28, 2021 at 10:30am PST. It will be available worldwide, presented on the Pasifika Transmissions' Facebook page.

Davis adds "This entire process has been incredibly introspective and eye-opening, even having seen the other artists having their time with the ancestors. The first message I received from the stone was 'Will you catch me?'. This was answered not by me, but by the entire community as they showed up in various stages this month to reunite for the opening of the Pasifika Transmissions exhibit and reopening of PIEAM's doors."

The public is also invited to come to PIEAM and see the new indoor exhibit PASIFIKA TRANSMISSIONS, works that honors the ancestor's pieces by the 9 indigenous diaspora Pasifika artists featured in the series: Roldy Aguero Ablao, Sid Duenas, Kiki Rivera, Amelia Butler, JP (Jason Pereira), Ālaoi'a Moni Pili, Melodie Turori, Samantha Tagaloa, & Mariquita "Micki" Davis. Audiences can also view the outdoor exhibit ALA MAI!, a collection of art panels by JP, his son Leone & friends. Art installed on exterior fencing of our garden along Alamitos Ave. & Gumbiner Park.

"Pasifika Transmissions has been a journey of connection and empowerment through kinship and community." says Davis. "In listening to the circumstances of the pandemic, we adapted, found other paths of connection. And now the conditions are shifting yet again. My hope is that Pasifika Transmissions continues in some form. And I believe that turning to our artists can offer hope, healing and even solutions for living in this future."

To view previous Transmissions, please visit the Pasifika Transmissions' Facebook page. To learn more about the Pasifika Transmissions series, please email [email protected] and visit the museum's website at http://www.pieam.org

EVENT LISTING:
Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum presents:
Pasifika Transmissions presents: Mariquita "Micki" Davis and the Slingstone
Produced as part of Pasifika Transmissions, funded by the RuMBa Foundation of Long Beach.
Friday May 28, 2021 - 10:30am PST / 7:30am HST / 1:30pm EST
This is a free event. Live stream and archive will be available on Pasifika Transmissions' Facebook page.

ABOUT PASIFIKA TRANSMISSIONS:
Pasifika Transmissions is a monthly distance learning series that will invite indigenous artists in our community to visit the archives and develop a video "transmission" geared toward our K-12 audience and their families. A "Pasifika Transmission" is our way of enhancing cultural competency and showcasing the vibrant talents and histories of our local artists. Pasifika Transmissions presented by Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum, funded by the RuMBa Foundation of Long Beach.
Contact: [email protected]
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Pasifika-Transmissions

ABOUT THE PASIFIKA TRANSMISSIONS ARTISTS (in chronological order of presentation):
Roldy Aguero Ablao is a queer mixed CHamoru artist and cultural practitioner from the island of Guåhan. He is inspired by the stories and myths of Oceania, weaving in themes of memory and renewal as an underlying foundation for his practice. He began his career at the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience in Seattle, working in exhibitions, education and youth development, and then sailed towards the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, to work in programs. He never thought he would go into this type of work, especially coming to a small island in the Pacific, but after 10 years of being in a space that encourages imagination, thought and reflection, he loves it now and feels grateful for the experience, and hopes to find ways to share that more with others.

Currently, Roldy is freelancing and utilizing his skills to give back to his community through the arts education and performance, specifically drag. Over the years, he has dabbled in various media, from photography, sculpture, floral design, to paper arts, film and fashion. He's tried a lot but has been too mamalao (or shy) to share his personal work. But he's trying. Check out his IG (@hafaroldy) to see some of that exploration. He has also showcased, exhibited and performed in various places, with FANHASSO and the Guam Museum in FESTPAC 2016, Legendary Children at the Seattle Art Museum in 2017 and 2018, and the Honolulu Biennale as a part of SaVage K'lub in 2019. Recently he began a CHamoru Art Collective called Guma' Gela' with other queer CHamoru artists, musicians and writers, inspired by other Pacific Art collectives such as the Pacific Sisters, FAFSWAG and the SaVage K'lub in Aotearoa (New Zealand), and have been able to showcase two fashion shows since, at London Pacific Fashion Week and at the Seattle Asian Art Museum in 2019.

Kiki Rivera is an internationally produced, award-winning theatre artist, educator, and arts activist. Kiki has her BA in Theatre as well as her MFA in Playwriting from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and is a member of the 2018 ArtEquity cohort who holds workshops to encourage the growth of future indigenous storytellers. As an educated gender-queer person of color (Samoan-Filipinx born and raised in Hawai'i) that is cis-femme presenting, Kiki recognizes her privilege and responsibility to those marginalized communities. Her work focuses on cultural and sexual identity and the effects of colonization. Kiki is one of many voices for Pacific Islanders in the diaspora and is published in Samoan Queer Lives edited by Yuki Kihara and Dan Talaupapa McMullin. Kiki believes in self-reflective storytelling from a contemporary indigenous perspective and creating space for marginalized theatre artists of color.

Sid M. Duenas' (Born 1973, Saipan. Lives in Los Angeles) artistic practice is expressed through multiple mediums, including poetry. It engages reading and writing as well as non-text processes as a practice of attentiveness. Attention to, and study of the alteration and metamorphosis of events and things that can only be known through synthesis, act as an expanded notion of Songi (burn) and a foundation of his work. Challenged by absorbing, transcribing, and repeating memories, objects and ideas, Duenas studies and re-studies, writes and re-writes, and commits images to surfaces, only to transfer these elsewhere.

Selected exhibitions:
2019—Material Art Fair, Group Exhibition—Mexico City, Mexico
2019—Allan Kaprow/Words, Group Exhibition—Milan, Italy
2019—Off the Wall, Group Exhibition—Armory Center for the Arts—Pasadena, California
2018—Oil I.O. Flower I.A., Solo Exhibition—Mandujano/Cell—Inglewood, California
2017—'Ae Kai Culture Lab, Group Exhibition—Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center—Honolulu, Hawai'i
2017—Reconstitution, Group Exhibition—LAXART—Los Angeles, California

Residences:
2015—The Main Museum—Artist Residency—Los Angeles

Awards:
2014—Art Matters Foundation—Artist Grant

Publications:
—Absolute Humidity (Ed. Tess Maunder)
—Storyboard (University of Guam)

Amelia Butler is of Ngātiwai, Ngāti Awa and Ngāpuhi descent. She attended Kōhanga Reo (Māori language preschool) at a young age and grew up in Auckland, New Zealand. Throughout her childhood Amelia's mother maintained a strong connection with her tūrangawaewae (standing place) by regularly taking Amelia and her brother and sister up north to visit their grandmother and other whānau (family) members. Amelia studied the Māori language by correspondence at secondary school and led her school's kapahaka (traditional Māori performance) group. She went on to major in Māori language, culture and performance in her Art's degree and Māori Land Law in her law degree at the University of Auckland. She also achieved a certificate in Contemporary Māori Performing Arts from AUT. Amelia moved to America in 2009 and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. She started LA-based Kapahaka group Ngā Anahera Māori (The Māori Angeles) in 2017 and leads the group. Amelia speaks te reo to her two daughters and they often perform with her kapahaka (traditional Māori performance) group. In addition to performing and teaching the Māori language through her company Learn Māori Abroad, Amelia also teaches haka & poi workshops for schools, dance studios, organizations and polynesian performance groups.
Amelia's Learn Māori Abroad programme was featured on TV3 National News in New Zealand for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, Māori Language Week. To watch her news segment click here.
Amelia has also been featured in several online publications. Click here and here to view her most recent online articles.

Jason "JP" Pereira is a muralist and designer of Samoan descent (with a lil' Portuguese!). Born and raised in Carson, he now resides in Garden Grove with his wife and son. JP draws inspiration from his Pacific Island heritage, his upbringing in the South Bay, and contemporary graphic design experience to develop his own style in his illustrations, murals, drawings and paintings. Some of his notable works include:
Tautua Mural: Top voted and selected design by the community for the Creative Corridor Challenge mural program in North Long Beach.
Wild Pacific Triptych: Invitation to create piece for the Asian Pacific Islander Civic Engagement Fund Convening in Los Angeles.
2020 Census Design Suite: Branded materials for the national campaign that represented the Pacific Islander communities across the US, to generate content to promote the census.

Ālaoi'a Moni Pili was born in Hawai'i and raised in both Sāmoa and California. He is a descendant of Samoan, Tokelauan, German and Chinese ancestries. He hails from the villages of Pava'ia'i, Fitiuta, Faleniu, Nu'uuli, Lotofaga and Malaelā. He serves his family and village as a Matai (chief) of the Sa Galoia family. He is a co-founder and Director of Education for LE GaFa, a community organization committed to the preservation of Samoan language, culture and identity. He also co-founded More Than Marks; a non profit that strives to educate that the motifs or marks on our body (tatau) are the original written language of our people, and it's wisdom and history can help us navigate through life in our time and space.

Melodie Bergquist-Turori is a Pasifika artist, educator, and student. Born in Aotearoa (New Zealand) and raised in San Diego, Melodie is Cook Islands, Swedish, and German. Her Cook Islands family lines come from Aitutaki and Pukapuka. Her experience in arts and communications began in radio and includes documentary filmmaking and photography. She is a cultural practitioner, member of PACCC, and teaches radio and podcasting at Saddleback College.

Samantha Tagaloa is a Samoan-Italian artist based out of Long Beach, CA. Her practice consists of process-based investigations through a combination of drawing, painting, sculpture and performance. Samantha's work is not about a final product, rather the process that helps her understand the human condition.

ABOUT PACIFIC ISLAND ETHNIC ART MUSEUM (PIEAM):
The Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum is the only museum in the contiguous United States with a mission to amplify the collective wisdom of the people of Oceania. Through a permanent collection, educational programs, rotating exhibits, and living arts, our purpose is to connect the community to resources and foster intercultural exchanges with appreciation and respect. PIEAM is generously supported by the Robert Gumbiner Foundation and by the PIEAM members whose annual support expands knowledge and appreciation of the arts of Oceania.
Website: http://www.pieam.org
Instagram: @pieam_arts

Media Contact

Eseel Borlasa, After Bruce, +1 (562) 881-6725, [email protected]

SOURCE Pasifika Transmissions