WWED? In Conversation with Ema Tavola
WW..D? Is an interview segment where we get to know awesome people that are a part of the creative community in New Zealand. This week we spoke to curator Ema Tavola, of PIMPI (Pacific Island Management, Production + Ideas). She was an instrumental figure for Fresh Gallery Otara, Associate Curator for HomeAKL and major advocate for Pacific arts. Read more for What Would Ema Do? How did you first get into the art industry? When I lived in Suva, I got involved with the Oceania Centre for Arts, Culture and Pacific Studies at the University of the South Pacific. I started painting there and discussing Oceania and art making with the late Professor ‘Epeli Hau’ofa. It was there that I participated in a painting workshop with the New Zealand Niuean artist and writer, John Pule, who told me about Manukau School of Visual Arts (now MIT Faculty of Creative Arts) in Otara, and that’s where I ended up studying. I moved to Auckland and lived with friends in Central Auckland in 2001 before moving to Manukau to study full-time. From those Fiji mates, I …