Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
The Pacific Sisters are a trailblazing Tāgata Moana art collective from Aotearoa New Zealand. Since 1991, they’ve been mixing Māori, Pacific and queer identities with art and #activism. Their unique style ‘indigenises’ #fashion, blending traditional techniques with unconventional materials. Their work reflects New Zealand’s changing cultural and political landscape since the 1990s, drawing inspiration from Afrofuturism, punk rock and rave culture.
Reflecting cultural continuity and innovation, their #costumes illustrate how Māori and Pacific identities weave past, present and future together. Each piece represents a unique character, or aitu, with its own story. Through their art, the Sisters advocate for Indigenous, LGBTQ+, and environmental rights, while encouraging younger generations to honour their moana heritage and imagine an inclusive future.
By recycling materials like denim and combining them with traditional fabrics such as tapa cloth and harakeke, their technique of ‘accessification’ creates layers of excess and playfulness. This fusion of old and new celebrates a dynamic, diverse identity.
Find out more about the costumes in ACMI's Future & Other Fictions exhibition.
https://www.acmi.net.au/whats-on/future-fictions/
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ACMI is Australia's national museum of screen culture. Watch, play, make and discover a universe of films, TV, videogames and screen-based art.
Visit us in Melbourne’s Fed Square or online at www.acmi.net.au.
Follow us
Facebook: facebook.com/acmionline
Instagram: instagram.com/acmionline
Twitter: twitter.com/ACMI
www.acmi.net.au
The Pacific Sisters are a trailblazing Tāgata Moana art collective from Aotearoa New Zealand. Since 1991, they’ve been mixing Māori, Pacific and queer identities with art and #activism. Their unique style ‘indigenises’ #fashion, blending traditional techniques with unconventional materials. Their work reflects New Zealand’s changing cultural and political landscape since the 1990s, drawing inspiration from Afrofuturism, punk rock and rave culture.
Reflecting cultural continuity and innovation, their #costumes illustrate how Māori and Pacific identities weave past, present and future together. Each piece represents a unique character, or aitu, with its own story. Through their art, the Sisters advocate for Indigenous, LGBTQ+, and environmental rights, while encouraging younger generations to honour their moana heritage and imagine an inclusive future.
By recycling materials like denim and combining them with traditional fabrics such as tapa cloth and harakeke, their technique of ‘accessification’ creates layers of excess and playfulness. This fusion of old and new celebrates a dynamic, diverse identity.
Find out more about the costumes in ACMI's Future & Other Fictions exhibition.
https://www.acmi.net.au/whats-on/future-fictions/
_____________________
ACMI is Australia's national museum of screen culture. Watch, play, make and discover a universe of films, TV, videogames and screen-based art.
Visit us in Melbourne’s Fed Square or online at www.acmi.net.au.
Follow us
Facebook: facebook.com/acmionline
Instagram: instagram.com/acmionline
Twitter: twitter.com/ACMI
www.acmi.net.au
![Building Godzilla [FULL TALK]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/eecap5_NIaw/mqdefault.jpg "Building Godzilla [FULL TALK]
From suits to sets to CGI, discover how the Godzilla franchise’s visual and special effects innovations changed film production forever.
From Eiji Tsuburayas early miniatures and monster suits, to visual effects innovations that have transformed 21st Century cinema, the Godzilla franchise has had an outsized impact on on filmmaking craft.
Tsuburayas Godzilla suit was an early example of tokusatsu (or ‘suitmation’) – a technique which endured for decades on screen – and his intricately designed miniature sets for the Godzilla franchise made scenes of Tokyo’s destruction all the more resonant.
Recent entries in the Monsterverse franchise have harnessed CGI by visual effects masters from studios like Luma Pictures and Weta Workshop to create stunning new worlds and bring bigger and badder monsters and setpieces to new audiences.
Joining host Silvi Vann-Wall will be Brendan Seals from Luma Pictures, who was the visual effects supervisor for Godzilla vs Kong, and tokusatsu expert Dr. Sophia Staite.
Our thanks to The Japan Foundation & Academic consultant Jessica Balanzategui
This talk was presented at ACMI on Sun 3 Nov 2024
https://www.acmi.net.au/whats-on/godzillafest/building-godzilla/
ACMI is Australias national museum of screen culture. Watch, play, make and discover a universe of films, TV, videogames and screen-based art.
Visit us in Melbourne’s Fed Square or online at www.acmi.net.au.
Follow us
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/acmionline
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acmionline
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ACMI
www.acmi.net.au")
