Patrice Kaikilekofe

Ilataufa-Patrice Kaikilekofe was born in 1972 in Nouméa, New Caledonia, to parents originating respectively from the Uvea-Wallis Islands and Futuna. This multidisciplinary visual artist grounds his artistic practice in printmaking (on paper, fabric or tapa), sculpture and painting. As the founder of the group Kalaga’la (The Call), which blends traditional Polynesian rhythms with contemporary influences, music is also an integral part of his work. As a composer and performer, he keeps the Wallisian language alive through his songs.

The cultural heritage and traditions of the Pacific are at the heart of his creative work and of his personal journey: in 1989, he studied Kanak and Melanesian arts in Bourail, in 1990 he enrolled at the Nouméa School of Art before continuing his training in New Zealand at Victoria University of Wellington, where he deepened his knowledge of Māori and Oceanic art history, and at Whitireia Community Polytechnic, where he trained in arts, craft and design. His time in New Zealand was pivotal in shaping his expertise and guiding the direction of his work. 

His curiosity and desire to foster dialogue among different Pacific cultures have been illustrated  in his multiple participations in festivals and events showcasing contemporary art from the region (including the Pasifika Festival in Auckland in 2001, the Pasifikana 1 exhibition in Nouméa in 2004, the Te Mata Indigenous Festival in Hastings in 2005, and the 3rd edition of the Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in Brisbane in 1999), as well as in his collaborations with renowned sculptors and other visual artists from the Pacific or based in the region: Lyonel Grant, Filipe Tohi, Ela To’omaga-Kaikilekofe, as well as with New Zealand visual artist Michel Tuffery, with whom he staged the opening performance at the Tjibaou Cultural Center in Nouméa in 1998, then the following year at the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane during the Triennial of Contemporary Art.  

His work has been widely exhibited throughout the Pacific—in New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Australia and New Zealand—as well as in metropolitan France, in Paris where he was awarded a medal by the City of Paris in 1999 at the 11th Salon des Artistes français d’Outre-Mer, and in the city of Fréjus which commissioned him to create a monumental statue  in 2006. His prints are included in the permanent collections of the National Art Gallery of Australia as part of the Gordon Darling Australasian Print Fund. 

Co-founder of the SIAPO artists’ collective (Solidarité itinérante des artistes polynésiens et océaniens), Patrice Kaikilekofe leads classes and workshops in schools as well as in prisons, thus fostering community and intergenerational bonds through his art. 

Exploration of identity and cultural belonging lies at the heart of his work, which revitalizes ancestral connections by bringing to life the words, colors, sounds, shapes, rhythms, and movements that constitute a shared heritage among the peoples of the Pacific. 

During his residency at NOHO, he will develop a project to create a series of multimedia sculptural works: three monumental lalis (Fijian percussion instruments carved directly from wood), representing the journey of words and vernacular languages as they spread with the different waves of immigration across Oceania, the echoes and distortions sparked by these linguistic resonances. This work could be a base for performances, bringing these instruments to life, to create a collaborative and dynamic piece of art and music.  

To know more about Patrice Kaikilekofe and his practice: 

https://www.facebook.com/p/Kalagala-100051783644671/

https://www.facebook.com/siapo.asso/

To know more about the group Kalanga’la and its collaborations with other artists: 

With Ruia Aperehama (Southside of Bombay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgen95K8KQQ

With Pacific Underground: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTuDDIovwgo