Stories
Treasure Islands
Arts and Cultural Exchange
Hosted by Lalau Leo Tanoi
A partnership with Powerhouse and Arts and Cultural Exchange, Treasure Islands follows Leo Tanoi and members of Sydney’s Pasifika community as they share the stories of cultural belongings from Sāmoa, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Fiji and Kiribati held in the Powerhouse Collection.
Object No. 2009/73/4
‘If you don't know your past you will never know where you're going in the future.’
‘The Sāmoan word for white man, or European, is papalagi. In a lot of maritime records we see the people describing the Polynesian boats as very small with the mast very low and very quick, and that their boats used to circle around the big European boats. So, when the Sāmoans first saw the European boats come bursting out and into our world, the kids went, ‘Papalagi, papalagi’ – the mast that went to the top of the sky.’
