Margaret Aull (b. 1978) is a painter, curator and arts manager whose practice across disciplines is deeply informed by her maternal whakapapa to Te Rarawa / Tuwharetoa in Aotearoa, and paternal links to Fiji. She is currently Taonga Gallery and Tuku Iho Collection Curator at the New Zealand Māori Arts and Craft Institute (NZMACI).
Title: For Fiji, Ever Fiji
Year: 2009
Dimensions: 210 x 170cm
Medium: Mixed media on canvas
Glossy postcard ideals
With Turquoise blue
Stark white beds offering smiles
As Camouflaged eyes watch
A heavy hand waves the flag of hope
Realities contrast
Deals unseen
As the faithful pray for truth
Songs of Tino Rangatiranga humm across the ocean
As we watch from the outside in
Snuffed voices and severed limbs
Monitored,
Bound,
To the shape shifter wanting sovereignty
This work is for the love of a land rich in culture, a land that is complex with nationalities and beliefs, this is for the islands of warmth and smiles, this is for the hope that Fiji finds a way.
For those of us of Fiji Diaspora we have a voice for those in Fiji there is no reprieve – question and you will be beaten
March the streets Fiji
Rise up
Say what you need to say
There will be a better Fiji
Through Freedom
This work is For Fiji, Ever Fiji.
Mau Tonu ( hold fast)
Lalaga (freedom)