‘Dance of the seven veils’ brings together recent photographs and video works centered on the figure of ‘Salome’ - a fictitious character Kihara’s has been performing since 2002. ‘Salome’ is inspired by a photograph entitled ‘Samoan Halfcaste’ (1886) taken by NZ photographer Thomas Andrew; and references a play written by Oscar Wilde. Kihara employs the Samoan dance of taualuga as a medium and mode of artistic enquiry into the postcolonial present.
Kihara’s work has been presented at Asia Pacific Triennial; Auckland Triennial, Sakahàn Quinquennial and the upcoming Daegu Photo Biennial in Korea in 2014. Her works are held in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) most recently acquired her work for their permanent collection. There is a Forum being held on 24th May 1pm to 3pm (Free entry)
