Kanani Miyamoto
Mururoa Mururoa: Big Lies
June 30 – July 21
Opening Reception June 30, 2018 from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Killjoy Collective 222 SE 10th Ave Unit 102B Portland, OR 97214
“Indeed, I saw in the district young women and young girls tranquil of eye, pure Tahitians….
All indeed, wish to be taken literally, brutally taken, without a single word.”
— Excerpt from Noa Noa, Tahiti journal of P. Gauguin
In 1769, the population of Tahiti was approximately 35,000.
By the time Paul Gauguin arrived in Papeete in 1891, European disease had killed off two-thirds of the population.
In the same year, colonialism had successfully destroyed the Maori people. Calvinist, Mormon, and Catholic religions replaced the indigenous beliefs and European thought and products replaced the handicrafts, barkcloth, the art of tattoo, music, and dance.
Mururoa Mururoa: Big Lies, is the start to a new dialog on the art and life of Paul Gauguin. A challenge to art institutions, art historians, and curators to recognize the true perspective of the indigenous.
#Repost @mamakanani
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I have been thinking about this for years… In 2012 I saw an exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum, Gauguin and Polynesia: An Elusive Paradise. I could not believe the ignorance of this show; the write up was absolutely ridiculous…they said “through a balanced and contextual analysis of Polynesian art alongside Gauguin’s works, this exhibit brings Polynesian arts and culture into the center of Gauguin studies”.
Gauguin is the face of colonialism: the face of a patriarchal society. There was no balance in the curation of this show. There was no Polynesian voice in this show. Polynesian art and culture was stolen, fetishised, and taken advantage of by Gauguin.
Moruroa Moruroa: Big Lies
@killjoypdx
#fuckgauguin
Kanani Miyamoto | Instagram: @mamakanani
Kanani Miyamoto was born and raised in Hawai`i and now lives in Portland, Oregon. She is a recent graduate of the Pacific Northwest College of Art MFA in Print Media program and has shown work in Oregon, Idaho and Hawai`i.
“I have lived in Portland for five years and visit Hawai`i as often as I can. Returning to the islands as a visitor has really opened my eyes to the tourist industry.”
Miyamoto is a passionate printmaker with an educational background rooted in traditional practices. Exploring issues of cultural and personal identity, Miyamoto’s studio practice expands into non-traditional forms of printmaking including mixed-media original prints, sculpture, installation, and animation. Miyamoto’s work investigates autobiographical experiences of growing up in Honolulu and being mixed heritage.
Killjoy Collective | Instagram: @killjoypdx
Our collective goal is to increase the visibility of women, women-identifying, and gender non-conforming artists in Portland and beyond by curating public visual art exhibitions and events representing a community-minded and interdisciplinary approach. We seek to provide a platform for artists exploring urgent, contemporary issues via our artist-run gallery space in SE Portland.
We view Killjoy as a site of resistance and a space for collaborating voices.
Killjoy Collective celebrates and seeks to engage women — women of color, women of all ages, women of all shapes and sizes, women with visible and invisible disabilities, immigrant women, indigenous women, queer women, trans women, and those who refuse to be put in a box. Our organization is feminist, non-hierarchical, unmotivated by profit, and deeply committed to sustaining relationships with artists and audiences. Our artist-run space strives to connect emerging creatives with intrigued audiences in a fun and intimate environment.
Killjoy Collective is located inside the Troy Laundry Studios at 222 SE 10th Ave #102B Portland, OR 97214 across the street from Century bar.
Projects hosted by Killjoy Collective are free and open to the public.
