Valevalenoa: articulations of 'ata' #1
Last week, we held our first ‘valevalenoa’ — a speculative discussion space in which to turn ideas around freely and without direction.
Vā Moana are excited to host a Vā Kōrero with guest speaker, Leilehua Lanzilotti.
5-7pm
Monday 14 September
Samoa House Library (level two, Samoa House building, 283 Karangahape Road)
Leilehua Lanzilotti is a Kanaka Maoli composer and multimedia artist whose works often explore dramatic expanses of color and timbre, engaging with themes of place, displacement, and layered time. Lanzilotti was a 2022 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Music for with eyes the color of time (string orchestra), which the Pulitzer committee called, “a vibrant composition … that distinctly combines experimental string textures and episodes of melting lyricism.” Other prestigious honors Lanzilotti has received include a Creative Capital Award, a Native Arts & Cultures Foundation’s SHIFT – Transformative Change and Indigenous Arts Award, and recognition as a 2025 USA Fellow. Lanzilotti has received additional distinguished fellowships & residencies through The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center, Casa Wabi, and the MacGeorge Fellowship at the University of Melbourne among others. Lanzilotti was part of the inaugural cohort of Wehiwehi, a residency-based gathering of Native Hawaiian artists working at the intersection of indigeneity & contemporary performance supported by the Doris Duke Foundation, and hosted at Shangri La Museum in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi.
Vā Kōrero operates as a platform to support the research and practice of Centre affiliates and our extended network. Affiliates, postgraduate candidates, and wider whānau are invited to share in ceremony and presentations of research, and to engage with and seek mentorship from knowledge holders, senior academics, and artists alike.
Email us to rsvp, fa‘amolemole. Also, please note that the library is up four flights of stairs. If you require the elevator, let us know.
