Ana and her daughter, Oasis Drink Bar, Food City Ethnic Food Court

Dulcie Stewart outside Roop ki Rani where her work is just visible in the first floor window.

The lovely Christine Mercer, manager of the Otahuhu Recreation and Youth Centre! We’re so grateful that we were allowed to take the posters beyond the street facing window to the internal spaces too – vinaka vakalevu!

Lovely staff member at Roti’s Corner, Food City Ethnic Food Court.

The skux dudes at Red Rat! Thanks Rocky and crew!!

And Star Hotel, where we will be having a well-deserved beer after the show comes down next week!

Watch this space for more installation photos!

In some locations, the posters are viewable from the street, in others, they are near the entrance way and require some hunting! At the Food City Ethnic Food Court they are near floor level, and at Roop ki Rani, they are in a first floor window viewable from across the road.

At the Otahuhu Recreation and Youth Centre, the full set of 7 images appears in one window, looking into the Gym. At Ronnies Shoes, the windows are lit after hours, so the works can be seen 24 hours a day!

A limited supply of exhibition catalogues are available at each venue. The posters will be up until Tuesday 25 October.

Vinaka vakalevu to the install team!

Otahuhu-based artists Sangeeta Singh and Luisa Tora were interviewed by Lynn Freeman for the Arts on Sunday on Radio New Zealand this weekend (16 October), listen here: art-20111016-1352-the_southside_arts_festival-048.mp3

Sangeeta and Luisa also feature in the current issue of Express, New Zealand’s GLBT (gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender) magazine and website, read more here: http://www.gayexpress.co.nz/2011/10/a-super-festival-%e2%80%a8for-a-super-city/

Both artists featured in the 2009 Fiji Day exhibition Fiji Times – check out the exhibition blog for works by both Sangeeta and Luisa.

The DIASPORADIC679 photo gallery will feature daily updates on the installation process, viewers and Otahuhu documentation.

We’ve had lots of interest in the exhibition, especially via Facebook – vinaka vakalevu to everyone who has expressed good wishes to us, we feel very proud and excited that the project is finally opening to the public, both physically here in South Auckland, as well as online.

A set of the 7 prints will be available for sale after the exhibition – watch this space for more information!

And after all is said and done, thank you again to the Southside Arts Festival – thank you for recognising the importance of Otahuhu, Fiji and Fiji Islander artists and most importantly, an unconventional exhibition which is largely a social intervention art experiment, with unknown but exciting potential outcomes!

Click on the above tabs or here to view the works, read the artist statements and learn more about the artists:

• Margaret Aull

• Torika Bolatagici

• Tagi Qolouvaki

• Sangeeta Singh

• Dulcie Stewart

• Ema Tavola

• Luisa Tora

Thank you to the Southside Arts Festival for making this project a reality for us – vinaka vakalevu!

They’re here! And they’re HOT!! The limited edition DIASPORADIC679 T-shirt is available to be ordered now from Fresh Gallery Otara. All sizes available. Only NZD40!

Fresh Gallery Otara is open Tuesday – Friday from 10am – 5pm and Saturday from 8am – 2pm. Ph 09 271 6019, email Nicole Lim for enquiries.

Read more about the design here.

Exhibition catalogues available at each venue include this map!

The six venues for DIASPORADIC679 are within a short walk of each other. If you’ve never been to Otahuhu before, a great day to visit is Thursday morning where a vibrant Tongan market runs opposite the Otahuhu Recreation and Youth Centre, Mason Avenue.

Find out more about the venues here.

Linked through Twitter, Facebook, email and many, many text messages, this project has become a reality through a lot of hard work from each artist.

We’re so excited to take DIASPORADIC679 to the streets of Otahuhu in 5 days time!

Whilst Auckland’s Fiji community has been celebrating in the weekend leading up to official Fiji Day (October 10), we have decided to commence our exhibition a week after Fiji Day, and we’re only 7 sleeps away!

We’re also very happy that Brisbane-based artist Dulcie Stewart will also be here next week for the opening of DIASPORADIC679!

The artwork will be posted here two days before the opening of the exhibition. The actual posters will be both A3 and A2 size and situated in the street-facing windows of six venues in Otahuhu. Find out more about our venues here.

A venue map will also be posted this week and enquiries can be emailed to us at diasporadic679@gmail.com

Fiji – we miss you, we love you :’)

The DIASPORADIC679 coat of arms logo has been included in the Fresh Gallery Otara limited edition sticker sheet, produced to promote events in the Southside Arts Festival!

Fresh Gallery Otara, an Auckland Council exhibitions gallery situated in the Otara Town Centre, South Auckland, is supporting three events in the Festival alongside DIASPORADIC679:

• MUD – A solo exhibition by Douglas Bagnall, a Wellington-based computer programmer and artist, 14 October – 26 November at Fresh Gallery Otara.
• Pecha Kucha Night Auckland Vol. 28, a night of live social networking in the Otara Community Courtyard, Thursday 27 October, $5 entry. Check out the Pecha Kucha Night Auckland website for more information on the line-up of speakers.
• The Southside Social – an art-speed-dating slash street party to celebrate and promote interdisciplinary networking, featuring live aerosol painting, video projections, food + DJ Al’Goodie, Thursday 3 November in the Otara Community Courtyard, $10 entry.

Follow Fresh Gallery Otara on Twitter for juicy updates!