MOANA_5

1-24 October, 2026

Four artists. Samoan heritage. Aotearoa New Zealand. Scotland. And about 11,000 miles of choppy ocean, checkered histories and colonial baggage in between.

Welcome to the Moana Alba project, where this show, MOANA_5, brings together four very different artists; Gary Silipa, Linda Va’aelua, Serene Hodgman and Jimmy Ma’i’ai.

Their work explores everything from identity and migration, to memories of place, but in a very different way.

Thanks to the heartfelt support of Creative New Zealand’s Pacific Arts Strategy, all four artists travelled to Scotland for the exhibition.

From glowing lightboxes to new riffs on old traditions such as weaving and tapa, MOANA_5 is bold in places, reflective in others, yet it’s all resolutely contemporary.

More than this, it’s a celebration of the unlikely ties between two small countries sitting at opposite ends of the planet - both shaped by landscape, migration, empire and stubborn cultural identities. (Turns out 11,000 miles isn’t quite as far as it sounds.)