About

Tok Talanoa is an artist-led conversation and knowledge-sharing platform designed to foster meaningful cultural exchange, regional understanding, and creative dialogue within and between Melanesian communities, generations, and practices.

First presented at Pātaka Art + Museum in 2024, Tok Talanoa brought together local and international Melanesian artists, cultural practitioners, and audiences in a series of thought-provoking conversations that centred Indigenous knowledge, contemporary artistic practice, and shared regional narratives. Grounded in the Pacific principles of talanoa and tok stori, the platform prioritises open, respectful dialogue and storytelling as powerful tools for connection and diplomacy.

Produced by Studio Kiin and curated by Emele Ugavule, Tok Talanoa was presented alongside three major exhibitions — The Ulumate Project, Red Wave Blue Wave, and Sanap Wantaim (Stand Together) — creating a multi-layered cultural experience where conversation, performance, visual art, intergenerational knowledge sharing, community building and storytelling intersected.

Tok Talanoa underscores the importance of sovereign, artist-led spaces for Black Oceania. It positions cultural practice as a form of self-determined engagement, where artists exercise cultural authority, shape narratives on their own terms, and contribute to sustained people-to-people connections. In doing so, Tok Talanoa supports long-term regional relationships built on trust, reciprocity, and respect — principles central to effective cultural and diplomatic engagement in the Pacific.

The first iteration of Tok Talanoa was supported by Creative New Zealand’s Pacific Arts Strategy.