Marama Malama: Te Manavā Moana Women

A celebration of 50 years of P.A.C.I.F.I.C.A. Inc, with portraits of esteemed Pacific women in Porirua photographed by Nu’ugalo Jacinta Mauga

Pātaka Art+Museum
Cnr Parumoana & Norrie Streets
Porirua, Wellington

20 June–16 August 2026

Nu’ugalo Jacinta Mauga, Jenny Taotua-O’Carroll

This Matariki season, under the guiding star Pōhutukawa – keeper of remembrance – Marama Malama: Te Manavā Moana Women honours those who have come before and the legacies they leave behind. Nu’ugalo Jacinta Mauga’s portraits of community leaders from Niue, Cook Islands, Sāmoa, Kiribati, Fiji, Tokelau, Tahiti, Tuvalu, Hawai'i and Tonga uplift women whose service has shaped Porirua for generations.

Founded in 1976–1977 by Pacific women, P.A.C.I.F.I.C.A. Inc has nurtured leadership, advocacy, cultural wellbeing and collective care across the generations. Marama Malama: Te Manavā Moana Women not only acknowledges P.A.C.I.F.I.C.A. Inc, but also Porirua as THE centre for Pacific women, their children and the leaders of tomorrow.

About the artist
Nu’ugalo Jacinta Mauga is a member of the P.A.C.I.F.I.C.A. Inc Whitireia Branch and has ancestral ties to the villages of Tafitoala and Vaiusu on the island of Upolu, Sāmoa, and Franz Josef from Te Waipounamu South Island of Aotearoa. With over 20 years’ experience in the design industry, spanning enterprise-level corporate brand work to community-led creative practice, she is a graduate of Te Waka Tūhura Elam School of Fine Arts (Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland).

In conjunction with the Pātaka exhibition, a selection of the portraits will also feature in Porirua’s Te Manawā lightboxes from 27 June 2026 - 27 June 2027.