NIU GOLD MOUNTAIN 2024: Exhibition Opening
25.07.2024 at Studio One Toi Tū, Auckland
This article series is a collaboration between Rat World and All My Friends - a collective based in Tāmaki Makaurau that supports creative projects from queer and POC communities.
Responding to the experiences of contemporary migrant narratives in Aotearoa, Niu Gold Mountain is a multimedia exhibition that explores the present day aspirations of this generation's Asian and Pasifika artists.
Photo Credit: Abigail Dell’Avo
The top room in Studio One Toi Tū goes from empty to electric as the clock strikes 5pm. It packs out with artists, creatives, producers, entrepreneurs - people from all walks of life - and the atmosphere is alive with connection.
If you had arrived a few moments earlier, you would have seen the 4 diligent founders of All My Friends - Tommo, Tyrun, Abbey, Kevin - setting up the food and drinks tables (shoutout to Malia’s Pai Fala and Pani Popos!), tweaking sounds and projections, and shaping the space for yet another fabulous rendition of Niu Gold Mountain.
An opening address speaks from the heart of AMF: a champion of community and migrant voices in Aotearoa. Their speech is received by an excitable and responsive crowd who resonate clearly with the kaupapa:
“The narrative of ‘the search for a better life’ is an experience shared by Chinese and Pasifika immigrants to Aotearoa, New Zealand in the 1860s and 1960s. The title of Niu Gold Mountain brings these two histories together, Chinese migrants sought their ‘New Gum San’ or ‘New Gold Mountain’ in the gold mines, while Pasifika immigrants searched for the ‘Land of Milk & Honey.’”
Niu Gold Mountain explores these concepts in the present day, collaborating with and showcasing artists from different backgrounds and creative practices in Tāmaki Makaurau. At the heart of this exhibition are the aspirations of contemporary Asian and Pasifika artists as they creatively navigate and seek out their own ‘New Gold Mountain’: a conversation that pays tribute to the past while shaping the present day.
The crowd bursts into applause as the speech comes to a close, segueing nicely into the first music video featuring powerhouse performers: Weichu Huang, Xin Ji, Ersha Island and Jiaqi Tang. We are treated to a lush journey of mystical movement, deep symbolism and sobering, beautiful music. The second video features artists Romiin, Spdrtwnbby and Vain Creative with a super slick and swaggy RnB music video reppin’ Avondale - WESTSIDE. Their performance gets heads noddin’, and mfs grab air like the good ol’ RnB days.
But the live performances are what stand out for me. How so much power can be packed into a performance, how so much mana can exist in a moment will always happily baffle me.
Ersha Island
Romiin
Romiin jumps on stage; 100% steez with the silkiest delivery of RnB bangerz (originals and covers) beaming gratitude to an adoring audience. Spdrtwnbby is up next eliciting huge cheers as she takes her fans on another RnB cruise, flavoured with her own style and swag. Ersha Island are the third and final act of the night. The sibling duo masterfully shifts the audience’s energy and brings us to their level. Through a dazzling, deeply emotional, and raw set, they lift us on soaring melodies and rich harmonies, bringing tears to the eyes of friends and whānau, winning our trust and allowing us to dive deeply into their world and resurface, wholly richer in spirit. Three stellar performances in a room swimming in appreciation.
Spdrtwnbby
2024 has been a big year so far - especially for our migrant/BIPOC/queer creative communities - Trans Pride Drag Show, The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave, This Room Is An Island, Everything That Moves, Moves Through Another, Basmati Bitch, I Don’t Wanna Dance Alone, the list goes on and on (in fact, it would suffice to simply read any issue of Rat World Magazine). A lot has happened, and a lot more will happen. This event is a sense of celebration and care for what has come, and what remains, of this colossal year.
As I’m heading out, I realise that I’ve been too engrossed in the upstairs performances to even check out the downstairs exhibition. A kind staff member lets me have a look (even though it’s already closed for the night): Niu Gold Mountain exhibition presents a grandiose signature family portrait and mounted screens, thriving amongst a community of other brilliant exhibitions. I move from room to room soaking in the work, buzzing from the performances, renewing the immense sense of inspiration I felt from last year’s Niu Gold Mountain, and once again, I know with utmost certainty that AMF is doing the mahi of creating and cultivating community; a community where anyone’s success is everyone’s success.
All My Friends, baby.
All My Friends team (from left to right): Tommo, Kevin, Abbey, Tyrun
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This piece is presented as part of a partnership with All My Friends, with the cost of writer
fees supported by them through the Creative New Zealand x Foundation North Asian Artists
Fund. Niu Gold Mountain is showing from Thursday 25 July 2024 - Thursday 22 August 2024 at Studio One Toi Tū, Auckland