Kōrero and croissants: Siah Finai’s exhibition Vānimonimo

Join us for a Kōrero and croissants

Join Curator Heather Galbraith and Gallery Assistant Lily Eketone for an informal tour of Siah Finai’s exhibition Vanimonimo at DEPOT’s Clarence Street Gallery.

Entry is free all we ask is that you RSVP. Koha will be accepted upon entry. 

About the exhibition

Vānimonimo is a collection of sculptural and painted works that explore the Sāmoan concept of Vā, the sacred relational space that binds people, land, ocean, and ancestry.

At the heart of this exhibition is a series of timber sculptures, each crafted carefully with motifs and intentions that echo the visual language of Sāmoan tatau, ancestral stories, and shared cultural memory. These works stand as markers of time and place, carrying the textures of tradition, the weight of history, and the rhythm of inheritance.

Vānimonimo is a conversation between past and present, between islands and oceans, between time and space. It is a call across the Vā, echoing, resonant, and deeply rooted.

About the artist

Siah Finai is a multidisciplinary creative living and working in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, with ancestral roots in the Sāmoan villages of Fasito‘outa and Nofoali‘i on the island of Upolu. Raised in the heart of West Auckland, his world was shaped early by rhythm, craft, and the quiet strength of community. This foundation continues to echo through his evolving creative practice. Finai’s work is deeply rooted in the textures and stories of Sāmoan culture, drawing from its symbols, materials, and traditions, then reshaping them through contemporary methods.