I Am Sieni

2021

Samoan poet Faumuina Felonlini Maria Tafuna performs ‘I am Sieni’ from outside her suburban home in Christchurch. The piece features art by Cora-Allan Lafaiki Twiss, animated by Moretekorohunga Lloyd

Credits

Poetry written & performed by
Faumuina Felonlini Maria Tafuna’i

Artwork
Cora-Allan Lafaiki Twiss

Animation
Moretekorohunga Lloyd

Sound Design
Riki Gooch

Music Director
Laughton Kora

Full credits at the end of the video

Artist Bio

Faumuina Felonlini Maria Tafuna'i

Faumuina is the daughter of Ifopo Lopeti and Nivaga Ifopo from Samoa. She is mother to Oliver, and wife to the late Patrick Tafuna’i. Faumuina, under the mentorship of navigator Hoturoa Barclay-Kerr, is the creator of a Wayfinding strategic framework. She is founder and CEO of social enterprise Flying Geese Ltd. She is an Edmund Hillary Fellowship Fellow. In 2021 Faumuina published her debut poetry book, My Grandfather is a Canoe, which has now been adapted into a play.

Cora-Allan Lafaiki Twiss

Cora-Allan Lafaiki Twiss is a multidisciplinary artist of Māori and Niue descent, originally from Waitakere, New Zealand. In recent years her practice has focused on her efforts to revive the art form of Hiapo, prior to this she completed her Masters in Visual Art and Design in Performance from AUT (2013), also receiving a AUT Postgraduate Deans award for her research. Cora-Allan was recently awarded a McCahon House Residency (2021) the Creative New Zealand Pacific Heritage Artist award (2020). In 2021 she won a springboard award from the Arts Foundation NZ and received an Annual Arts Grant fund to focus on developing the art form of Hiapo.