and so we find them all over the universe now by Emily Parr (Ngāi Te Rangi, Moana, Pākehā) 2023.

Emily Parr (Ngāi Te Rangi, Moana, Pākehā) is the great-great-granddaughter of Gustav Kronfeld, whose trading company operated from the Hayman Kronfeld building in the early 1900s. Gustav and his Sāmoan wife, Louisa, migrated to Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland in 1890 and raised their 10 children in nearby Eden Crescent. This ‘ula, or necklace, references their family home, which was named ‘Oli ‘Ula after a sweet-scented red flower.

The ‘ula is strung with fabric flowers and hand-moulded ceramic beads which evoke natural forms in Sāmoa such as shells, seed pods, stones, sand, and coral. There is a flower or bead for every descendant of Gustav and Louisa; a special bead hangs at the centre for all those yet to come. The artwork takes its name from a reflection by the artist’s great-grandfather, Samuel, on the familial network extending from Sāmoa to the world.