Climate Action Artist Residencies

21/10/2025

PRESS RELEASE
OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE: SAMOA CLIMATE ACTION ART EXHIBITION 2025

21/10/2025

21/10/2025

🌟 Samoa Climate Action Art Exhibition 2025

The Ministry of Education and Culture proudly invites you to the Samoa Climate Action Art Exhibition 2025, a powerful celebration of creativity and climate consciousness.

This unique exhibition showcases the voices of Samoan artists and youth, capturing the struggles, resilience and hope in the face of climate change. Each artwork tells a story of rising tides, vanishing traditions and unbreakable spirit of our people standing for a sustainable future.

Join us in raising awareness through art, and be part of the movement to protect our islands and environment for generations to come.

Hosted by the Ministry of Education and Culture in partnership with Cultural Vistas (Germany) and collaborating effort with Samoa Tourism Authority.

✅Theme: The Struggles of Climate Change/Luitau o Suiga o le Tau
✅Dates: 22-24 October, 2025
✅Official Opening: Wednesday 22 Oct, 2025 (9:30am – 11am)
✅Daily opening Time: 10AM – 4PM
✅Venue: Samoa Culture and Arts Center, Malifa

21/10/2025

The UP Vargas Museum, in collaboration with Cultural Vistas, presents the exhibition "Kalikasang Mahiwaga" (Mystical Nature), featuring works by artists of the Climate Action Residency organized by Cultural Vistas. They are Nathalie Dagmang, Grace Nono, and Raz Salvarita from the Philippines, Lisa Rave and Clara Suokyung Jo from Germany, Apolonia Tamata and Ratu Ropate Rakuita Wailutu K**a from Fiji, and Salauimatagi Anneliese Tuiletufuga Tilo from Samoa. Also included in the exhibition are new works by Filipino photographer Johann Guasch and a film performance by Choulay and Sereyrath Mech from Cambodia.

The phrase comes from a conversation between artist Nathalie Dagmang and her research partners, who are residents tending vegetable patches along the Marikina River. Their reflections, which the artist documents in a video, are a form of knowledge that yields to the rhythms and cycles of nature. They say that nature is a force not easily fathomed, but that it knows how to keep the fragile balance of existence. The exhibition takes its cue from the wisdom of the natural world, through projects that commune with the land, the seas, the stars, through the human imagination and congruent action. The Climate Action Residency addresses climate change by bridging scientific findings with artistic practices. “Kalikasang Mahiwaga” (Mystical Nature) is part of a series of exhibitions hosted by the UP Vargas Museum addressing critical issues of climate and environmental crises. Such exhibitions complement the museum's social practice project, Gardens and Homesteads, which promotes the idea of gardening as a form of assembly and as a practice of gathering and communing.

The exhibition's opening reception will be on Friday, 3 October 2025. Climate Action Artist Residencies is developed under Cultural Vistas and funded by the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Kalikasang Mahiwaga (Mystical Nature) will be on view at the 1st Floor Galleries of the UP Vargas Museum from October 3 to November 4, 2025. Email [email protected] for details and related information.

10/09/2025

23/12/2024

Climate Action Artist Residencies: Introducing Our Second Cohort 🌍

We are delighted to present the artists of the second cohort of the Climate Action Artist Residencies. The four artists from Fiji, Samoa, the Philippines and Germany are currently cooperating with reputable organizations in the field of climate & environmental research as part of their residencies. With the goal of creating an artistic project communicating the scientific knowledge gained during their residencies, each artist brings a unique perspective to the intersection of art and climate action.

🔵Apolonia Tamata, Ph.D.
A Fijian linguist, cultural anthropologist, and playwright, Apolonia is exploring the relationship between indigenous knowledge and water hazards. Her artistic film aims to reimagine our engagement with water to mitigate its adverse effects, offering new insights into climate adaptation practices.
Host Organization: Coastal Union Germany (EUCC-D), Rostock-Warnemünde, Germany

🔵Clara Jo
Berlin-based artist and filmmaker Clara investigates how community-led climate governance in Fiji can challenge distorted media portrayals. Her work provides counter-narratives that highlight local perspectives on climate action.
Host Organization: Pacific Blue Foundation, Suva, Fiji

🔵Nathalie Dagmang
An artist-educator from the Philippines with extensive experience working with disaster-affected communities, Nathalie is creating an intermedia installation that bridges local knowledge and scientific perspectives on risk and resilience.
Host Organization: Technische Universität Berlin, Department of Community Energy and Adaptation to Climate Change, Berlin, Germany

🔵Salauimatagi Anneliese Tuiletufuga Tilo (Sala)
A member of a traditional Samoan women's weaving collective, Sala integrates scientific knowledge on climate change into traditional "Afa" coconut fiber art. Her work fosters dialogue on climate mitigation, honoring both cultural heritage and contemporary realities.
Host Organization: Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, Eberswalde, Germany

31/10/2024

Meet Lisa Rave: Exploring Samoa’s Environmental and Cultural Transformations

Lisa Rave’s residency with SPREP (Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme) has brought her into the heart of Samoa, where she is immersing herself in the environmental and cultural changes unique to the South Pacific. Lisa is engaging with various departments at SPREP to understand how the organization researches and tackles local and global challenges, with a focus on SPREP’s efforts to raise awareness and build resilience to the challenges of climate change the country faces.

Lisa's journey has led her to historical sites, research at the National Archives of Samoa, and conversations with the Center for Samoan Studies at the National University to better understand the social structures and vulnerabilities of Samoa. Climate action is at the forefront of Samoan society, with even the smallest villages deeply impacted. Through conversations with fishermen and farmers, she’s hearing firsthand about the effects of climate change on livelihoods, biodiversity, and the centrality of land to identity and family.

Lisa’s work is just beginning, and we can’t wait to see how her residency will evolve as she continues to explore the complexities of Samoa’s situation in the global climate crisis.

First photo from left to right: Filo Teofilo, Galumalemana Steven Percival, Tony Brunt, Ale Mulipola and Avamua Matamua in front at the northern steps of the remains of a former German house built during German colonial period in Samoa on Mauga Folau hill near Tuaefu, Apia. Last photo: Lisa Rave with the former Head of State of Samoa, Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi.

Photo credit: Steven Percival

13/06/2024

Please feel warmly invited to this special event.