Lalaga Youth Ambassadors Art Tour: Taranaki to Tāmaki

Over the last year, a growing group of rangatahi from Ngāmotu, Taranaki - known as the Lalaga Youth Ambassadors (LYA) - have been mentored by leading Pasifika artists and curators with the support of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery to develop original visual and performance art work, engage with local communities, and contribute to cultural programming at the Gallery. They serve on the Gallery’s Te Moana Nui A Kiwa Advisory Group and support its efforts to uplift Pasifika protocols. Their most recent project is a thrilling collaboration with the award winning creative artist Leki Jackson-Bourke who has been workshopping and devising an original performance that reflects on what it means to be a Young Pasifika person living in regional Aotearoa. 

The group has been invited to Tāmaki Makaurau in 2026, to reconnect with networks of artists and museums, and to perform at the annual ASB Polyfest—the largest Polynesian dance festival in the world. 

The Gallery provides ongoing support to enable the Ambassadors, and their engagements by funding operations and the specific visiting artists and creatives funded to come to Taranaki for the group. The LYA group is now seeking financial support to be able to take up the unique opportunity to travel together that will allow them to share a regional perspective, represent multiple schools and cultures, and bring their creative voices into a space of national and international significance.