SaVAge Klub in Honolulu Photo: Pake Salmon
The Savage Club started in London in 1857 and was a ‘gentleman’s club’ dedicated to the arts and literature. Eventually, it was established throughout the Commonwealth. Fast forward to 2010, and artist Sistar S’pacific, aka Rosanna Raymond conceived The SaVĀge K'lub, and like its namesake which inspired it, it too, has grown into a collective of chapters worldwide.
The SaVĀge K'lub subverts the original club’s elitist and racist stereotypes, bringing together Pacific artists to explore different concepts of space, hospitality and “what it means to be framed as a 'savage' in the 21st century.”
SaVAge Klub round the kava bowl Photo: supplied
For the live art event Performance Arcade at the Wellington Waterfront this weekend Aotearoa SaVĀge K’lub are presenting VĀnishing (var;nish;ing) Room. Alongside projections and performance they are hosting high teas.
Rosanna Raymond as Back Hand Maiden in the Greek and Roman galleries, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Photo: Richard Wade
Then, the Pōneke chapter is hosting an exhibition at Te Auaha 27 February to 20 March, introducing the public to “the fierce and fabulous world” of the saVĀge K’lub through jewellery, costumes and “taonga liberated from museums and colonial tricksters.” All this before a Pōneke Savāge K'lub House takeover of theatre Hannah Playhouse on the evening of 8 March for fashion, performances and projections.
Self-declared president Rosanna Raymond has long been an innovator in the contemporary Pasifika art scene. A long-standing member of collective the Pacific Sisters, Raymond has worked extensively internationally with performances, installations, body adornment, and spoken word. A published writer and poet, her works are held by museums in the UK, US, Canada, Australia and Aotearoa.
Raymond continues to open up new conversations about the cultural legacy of the Pacific with work with museums, galleries and theatres. On 23 March she will be at the National Gallery of Australia with a talk titled ‘We Need to Talk About Gauguin?’ and a SaVĀge K’lub exhibition will be held in parallel with a Gauguin exhibition, 29 June to 7 October.
SaVAge Klub installation at the 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane in 2015 Photo: Natasha Harth
Raymond has previously been awarded a New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Pacific art and a Senior Pacific Art Award.
Founded to promote literature and the arts, the original savage clubs (named after a UK poet, Richard Savage) were once elitist in their membership and came to reference Indigenous peoples in their ceremonies and regalia. The homepage of the London Savage Club’s website still depicts a warrior in a feathered war bonnet, and Aotearoa clubs had a range of actions adapting Māori tikanga. At its peak there were 46 clubs in Aotearoa, and today 16 active clubs remain dedicated to the role art plays in people’s lives.
Sistar S’pacific caught up with Mark Amery of Culture 101 while in Pōneke.
