Latai Taumoepeau makes live-art-work. Her faivā (body-centred practice) is from her homelands, the Island Kingdom of Tonga and her birthplace Sydney, land of the Gadigal people. Her practice centres Tongan philosophies of relational vā (space) and tā (time); cross-pollinating ancient and everyday temporal practice to make visible the impact of climate crisis in the Pacific. She conducts urgent environmental movements and actions to assist transformation in Oceania. She was a leading artist on a five-year project Refuge, an exploration of community preparedness in emergency management in Naarm/Melbourne that began in 2016.
Latai’s My Friendly Island Cooks sees national and cultural identity, tourism imagery, personal and community histories playing out inside her performative self portraiture.
