Why artist Kalisolaite 'Uhila is sitting still in a pile of dirt at Britomart

On Friday 2 May, ‘Uhila will stage a day-long performance, Kelekele Mo’ui (Living Soil). First performed at Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga Hastings Art Gallery in August last year, the work involves ‘Uhila sitting still while buried up to his neck in a pile of soil, a reference to the ways people live off labour and the land, the richness of soil as a source of sustenance, and the practice of maumau-taimi, or ‘wasting time’. ‘Uhila will take his place in the soil pile around noon and be pulled from it at 6pm. 

Members of the public will be able to view the work at any time during this period and are particularly encouraged to attend at 6pm for ‘Uhila’s removal from the soil. Please note that parts of the performance will be filmed. 

‘Uhila’s canvas works, Kini Lotokolo (Cleaning the City), will provide a backdrop to the performance on Britomart’s Pavilion Panels on Te Ara Tāhuhu and Galway Street. In the works, ‘Uhila has spattered canvases with ink and acrylic, as well as scarring them with rakes, machetes and other tools. The works appear to reference the famous American spatter-painter Jackson Pollock, but they also evoke manual labour and the actions of working the land. For this exhibition, the canvases have been photographed and reframed to fit the Pavilion Panels. The works will be on display throughout the Aotearoa Art Fair. 

Keep scrolling to read Kalisolaite's interview with Britomart's Tia Sagapolutele about his work. The portrait above is by Raymond Sagapolutele, the portrait below is by Manihera Te Hei. 

KALISOLAITE Thank you for having me. My name is Kalisolaite 'Uhila, born in Tonga and raised in New Zealand since I was three years old. I'm a performance and visual artist where I use my body to express the idea or concept of life every day. I studied at AUT with a Master's degree and now I'm looking into doing my doctorate. 

KALISOLAITE One of my favourite works was Mo'ui tukuhausia from the exhibition What do you mean, we?, where I lived homeless for two weeks to raise awareness on homelessness. I had no idea that the piece was going to make it to the Walters prize so I was shocked when they emailed me and told me I was shortlisted. At the time, I had moved with my family to Tonga and told the Walters team they had to call me to prove it was real because I didn't want to give everything up I had set up in Tonga if it wasn't. When they called and confirmed, I decided to come back to New Zealand because it made me realise that my art and what I'm doing has importance. 

KALISOLAITE Back in 2005 when Britomart was going through renovation, I worked as a labourer in construction and helped put things together. I think that's what draws me to this space, coming here in a different way as an artist. It's a full circle moment for me so I feel grateful to be able to share my work with the Britomart community. 

KALISOLAITE This work is significant and important to me so it's a privilege to have my art here in Britomart. I like that you get a diverse range of people walking around the area so I'm interested to see how it goes. Thank you and the team for giving me the opportunity to showcase my work, not only that, but also to bring my voice into the city. I've done past works in the city, but this is more of a public space that will help bring awareness to what I'm trying to do with my work. 

Kalisolaite's work appears in Britomart courtesy of the artist and Michael Lett Gallery.