Seize the time is a community based project interested in the cross section of pedagogy and history focusing on Pacific youth and the absence of knowledge surrounding Pacific peoples history in New Zealand. It is attempting to fill the prevalent gaps of their own history from the 50s to the 80s, through posters, publications and a number of talks and discussions while creating a wider awareness of the situation. This gap has emerged at the fault of both our current curriculum and our elders not continuing the discussion. The New Zealand based Pacific struggle is an empowering history once grasped and Seize the time aims to fill the unfortunate gap.

This project engages in pedagogical critique using New Zealand’s history as material, occupying a level of intellectual discourse while being accessible to the wider community. Distribution of this history would take form primarily as a series of posters and publications. The posters would employ the visual tropes of political empowerment using the slogans of the Polynesian Panther movement. The publications include a reproduction of Melani Anae’s chapter ‘All power to the People. Overstayers, Dawn Raids and the Polynesian Panthers’ from the book Tangata O le Moana as well as a self-guided heritage walk publication of Ponsonby and Grey Lynn pertaining specifically to Pacific histories. Seize the Time will also take form as an extensive public programme including discussions, lectures and workshops centred around this history. A homework centre mirroring the actions of the Panthers will also be part of the public programme. Also installed within the space would be a carefully curated library and audio visual library for use by the public.

In addition, an exchange with the community will highlight the social relevance of the project and its concerns beyond the art world. In exchange for the posters, publications and attendance to the public programme I ask that visitors bring in a box of cereal. After the show, I will be able to create a number of breakfasts in low decile, highly Pacific populated primary schools. The show will go full circle in that it gives back to the community it is concerned with. Conceptually it also goes full circle as the histories were topical a few decades ago and the breakfasts attempt to deal with a current topical issue.

Seize the Time was a solo show at Artstation on from the 24th of October to 4th of November.