Testimonies from the South

Aaifou Potemani and Elisha Oloapu

Fresh Gallery Ōtara
5/46 Fair Mall, Ōtara Town Centre, Auckland

19 September - 01 November 2025

Testimonies from the South is a collaborative exhibition by artists Elisha Olopu and A'aifou Potemani that reimagines the Samoan cultural art of siapo-making. Traditionally used for clothing, ceremonies, and burials, soap carries ancestral meaning through symbolic patterns and storytelling. This exhibition explores how those traditions continue to evolve, bending heritage with the street aesthetics of South Auckland. Through photography, printmaking, and installation, the artist express a living culture shaped by both ancestral roots and urban experience.