When I think of Raymond Sagapolutele's practice, the depth and breadth of relationships come to mind, specifically with people and his surroundings. Sagapolutele negotiates the world through the lens of vā (space) and the filter of alofa (love). His solo exhibition, Mo I Tatou at Fresh Gallery in Ōtara, is the embodiment of these core values, taking place in the artist's home turf, South Auckland.
The exhibition consists of 23 large-scale unframed nocturnal portraits, and a 19-minute video, looped through on a mounted screen. The scale of the portraits is life-sized and generous (2000 × 1250 mm.), and although unframed, the black dominates and frames each portrait, taking up every bit of available space within the gallery. There is a uniformity in the scale of each portrait, which triggers a thought of the imposed sense of conformity that many people groups experience when migrating to Aotearoa New Zealand, making it their home. While the format is consistent, the content however is colourful, with varied genders, individual adornments, professions and expressions on full display. Mo I Tatou is translated as 'for us' and is a possible nod towards the position the exhibition takes.
In approaching the question of Moana identity in Aotearoa, Sagapolutele takes a path that is led by the question of 'who are we?', drawing from the community with which he is familiar and one of which he is part, the Pacific diaspora, as well as urban Māori from his generation. The common thread among his sitters is the contemporary framing of who they are as Moana people in Aotearoa—a generation mostly born here, shaped by their lived experiences on this land. is perhaps attempting to reframe a historic wrong in the way people of the Moana have been represented. Is it possible to decolonise the lens? People of the Moana were often photographed as 'subjects', who were then studied, as the exotic other, whose names were often not recorded, but the (European) alongside them or the photographer himself was named. The artist is quick to correct the use of the term 'subject', opting for 'sitters', an expression of the artist's (love) and (respect) for those he photographs.
