For the Asia Pacific Triennial, two Solomon Islands collectives present a multidisciplinary collaboration. KAWAKI is a collective of women whose members, drawn from the communities of Katupika, Wagina and Kia, participate in decisions around the management of a community-led conservation park in the Arnavon Islands. Members of the Dreamcast Theatre collective, based in Honiara and focused on youth issues, work across a broad artistic spectrum, from music and theatre to filmmaking and visual arts.

KAWAKI and Dreamcast Theatre have collaborated on an immersive audiovisual environment that celebrates both the material and intangible aural and performance cultures of the three KAWAKI communities. Filmed and recorded in the Arnavon Islands and on the island homes of the women, Kuza Ni Tege presents three natural resources vital to the existence of the KAWAKI communities and their distinctive cultural practices: Kuza is a string bag the Katupika women make from the bark of a Leko tree, which is threatened by logging; Te Ni is the coconut tree, of which every part is used by the Wagina community; and Tege, in Kia dialect, is the turtle – a very culturally significant species in the lives of the Kia people.

Choreographed and directed by their Dreamcast collaborators, Kuza Ni Tege takes audiences on a poetic journey into each of these cultures and environments and, in doing so, tells the story of how communities in the Solomon Islands continue to live in harmony with their land.

Kuza Ni Tege is a collaboration between Dreamcast Theatre, KAWAKI Women’s Collective and the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art for APT11, with the assistance of The Nature Conservancy.