“ Tuffery’s journey is an open and expansive one, its wonder and revelations shared generously, as a gift, in his art. It illuminates the sea around him, showing us aspects of our world, our society and our lives that would otherwise remain unseen. ”
Tim Walker, Director, TheNewDowse, New Zealand

Welcome to micheltuffery.co.nz

A New Zealand based artist of Samoan, Rarotongan and Tahitian heritage, Michel Tuffery M.N.Z.M on paper and by reputation is one of the seminal role players for visibility of Contemporary Pacific Island art locally and beyond the wider Pacific. His creative output is expansive as he is adept at all arts media, printing, painting and sculpting, and works collaboratively with technicians and other art practitioners to realise his performance and installation projects, requiring moving image, light and sound. His concerns are measured and politicised around the conservation of the environment and shaped by his Pacific Island ancestry.

In 2008 Michel was honoured with becoming a Member of the New Zealand Merit of Order in the Queens Birthday Honours List for services to the Arts.

Tuffery’s art features in major Public and Private collections globally. Selected recent National and International Arts Residencies, Public Commissions, Awards and his extensive Solo and Group exhibitions include;

    2011
  • Nui Pasifik Warrior, Casula Powerhouse, Sydney, Australia;
  • Oceania, City Gallery Wellington, NZ
  • This is not a Vitrine_This is an Ocean Exhibition, Waikato Museum, Hamilton, NZ
  • First Contact, ANZ Building, Chifley Square, Sydney, Australia
  • Povi Vasa, Edge of Elsewhere, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney, Australia;
  • First Contact Ambient, Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney, Australia

    • 2010

  • Celebrating Connections, Marks Garage, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
  • Samoan Art: Urban, de Young Museum, San Francisco, USA
  • Tiaho - Contemporary Photography from Oceania, The Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico
  • Nui Pasifik - Urban Art from the Pacific Rim, Gorman University Art Gallery, San Francisco, USA
  • Manuia - Contemporary Cook Island Art, The American Indian House Gallery, New York, USA
  • Indigenous Peoples: Development with Culture and Identity, United Nations, New York, USA

    • 2009

  • The British Museum Collection, London, UK
  • Art in the Contemporary Pacific - The Great Journey, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan, ROC

    • 2008

  • Le Folauga, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan, ROC

    • 2007

  • Dateline, NBK Gallery, Berlin, Germany
  • Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Permanent Collection, Wellington, NZ
  • News from Islands, Campbelltown Art Centre, Sydney, Australia
  • Tangata o le Moana, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, NZ (2007-2017)
  • Pasifika Styles, University of Cambridge Museum, Cambridge, UK (2006 -2008);

Latest News

Current and Upcoming Exhibitions and Projects:

15th March 2012
1pm – 2pm Art Talk at the Festival Club, Wellington.
Michel will talk across the development processes, narrative of his FIRST CONTACT artwork in a broader context.

8 - 11 March 2012
VOLTA New York
BCA Gallery presents a new suite of artworks for this key International Art Fair and includes his celebrated First Contact series across paintings, sculpture and a media installation.

4 March 2012
12:30 - 1:30pm
Michel will talk across his FIRST CONTACT artwork processes and narrative while researching the collections at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

24th February - 18th March 2012
FIRST CONTACT is an architectural projection artwork with a live show to open the New Zealand International Arts Festival (NZIAF) season at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

Larger than life' doesn't quite do this work justice. The beauty and history of the South Pacific come to Wellington in a big way with First Contact -- a giant digital artwork projected upon the western wall of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

By bringing the 'inside out' from Te Papa's extensive collections, Tuffery breathes new life into historical material recorded by the Polynesian ambassador Tupaia, and the scientists and artists from Captain James Cook's three epic voyages - linking them with his own distinctive works and 21st century visual and sound bytes.

Innovative and utterly transfixing, First Contact will light up Te Papa every evening during the Festival. If you didn't make the live cultural celebrations on opening night or want to experience First Contact in all its glory again, download the free recording of the live soundtrack from this web page or at the First Contact Centre outside Te Papa.

Soundtrack title: First Contact
Music Director: Daimon Schwalger (The Nomad)
Music Courtesy of The Nomad: www.thenomadmusic.com
Horomona Horo: www.orowaru.com
Rayjah45: www.myspace.com/201764480
Rhombus In Dub: www.rhombus.co.nz
The Vehicle: www.thevehicle.co.nz

Head down to Te Papa to watch First Contact large scale projection nightly until the 18th March and download the amazing soundtrack produced by The Nomad including vocals by Rayjah45 and Horomona Horo a Taonga Puoro specialist. This is a new and innovative approach to public multimedia artwork and all you have to do is download the FREE audio file from http://www.festival.co.nz or visit the NZIAF hub down at Te Papa. First Contact runs twice nightly beginning at approx 8:30pm, watch the 30 second countdown and then hit play – you’ll then be synced right into the visual artwork. Don’t forget to switch your phone to flight mode for uninterrupted play and as always do let others know to come down with family and friends to enjoy this unique artwork scoping an epic story of our history in the Pacific to enjoy the full brilliance of this artwork.

12 November 2011 - 19 February 2012 (Stage 2, Aotearoa New Zealand)
SIAMANI SAMOA, Pataka Museum of Arts and Culture
http://www.pataka.org.nz

Publications featuring Michel are:

2011: PACIFIC ART IN DETAIL, Dr Jenny Newell, The British Museum Press, London
http://www.museumpublicity.com/.../pacific-art-in-detail-from-the-britis...
http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/TePapaPress/.../Pages/PacificArtinDetail.aspx

2010: OCEANIA, Dr Elisabetta Gnecchi Ruscone, Mondadori Electa S.p.a. Italy
http://www.electaweb.com/catalogo/eseguiRicerca?tipo=&tipovis=&keyword=o...

2010: THE CONTEMPORARY PACIFIC Journal Vol 22. University of Hawaii Press features editorials on the writings of Professor Albert Wendt and Michel's art spanning their respective professional careers to date. http://uphjournals.wordpress.com/catergory/the-contemporary-pacific/