Telly Tuita

Telly Tuita was born in 1980 in Tonga. At age nine, he migrated to Sydney, Australia, living in Australia for most of his life, now currently located in Wellington New Zealand. Tuita worked at Green Square School primary school and community centre from 2015 to 2017 as a High School art teacher, a Special Education teacher, and an Assistant Principal. Telly Tuita delves into his cultural identity through nostalgia, which is shaped by his childhood relocation from Tonga. Tuita developed Tongpop, a distinct visual language, as a result of his exploration of his ethnic identity and complex relationship with his ancestral land. Tuita along with other artists such as Sione Monū and Dagmar Dyck donated works to this cause. Tuita's Inaugural solo exhibition Tongpop Nostalgia was a pivotal point in his career. Tuita ran a crowd funding campaign to allow the work to be presented in Ōtautahi. was part of a Wellington City Council the Creative Hoardings pilot programme. Creative Hoardings have been developed in response to a growing number of construction sites around Wellington. Hoardings consist of plywood panels and simple framing structures and surround construction sites as temporary safety walls. 2024 also saw Tuita holding a solo exhibition Tongpop Archetypes in New Zealand Portrait Gallery, and The Tēvolo Made Me Do It in Bergman Gallery. 2025 saw Tuita take over Walsh Bay Arts Precinct as Sydney Festival's Visual Artist in Residence. The Sydney Festival's major work is a 1920s steamship, the SS John Oxley, which was adorned with a massive ''ta'ovala manafau (dance skirt) and kiekie'' (Tongan dress) while it docks in the Walsh Bay in Sydney. == Awards ==

• 2021 – Finalist for the 2021 National Contemporary Art Award for work Diasporas Children, Waikato Museum. == Residencies ==

• 2025 – Sydney Festival’s Visual Artist in Residence, Sydney, Australia • 2023 – Poison Creek Sculpture Project Artist Residency, Wellington, New Zealand. == Selected solo exhibitions ==

• 2025 – Tongpop Fervour, Bergman Gallery, Rarotonga, Cook Islands • 2025 – The Tā and Vā of Tongpop, The Thirsty Mile, Sydney Festival, Sydney, Australia • 2024 – ''Tongpop's Great Expectations'', Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown, Australia • 2023 – Tongpop to Britomart, Britomart Precinct, Auckland, New Zealand • 2023 – The Immortal Tango Of Love And War, Bergman Gallery, Aotearoa Art Fair, Auckland, New Zealand • 2022 – Tongpop Cornucopia. Bergman Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand • 2020 – Tongpop He-Story, Precinct35, Kaukau, Wellington, New Zealand • 2020 – Tongpop Nostalgia. CoCA – Centre of Contemporary Art Toi Moroki, Christchurch, New Zealand • 2020 – TongPop Herstory. Weasel Gallery, Hamilton, New Zealand • 2020 – Tongpop Fetish. Objectspace, Auckland, New Zealand • 2018 – Tongpop Souvenir, Precinct35, Wellington, New Zealand == Selected group exhibitions ==

• 2025 – Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Mars Gallery, Sydney, Australia • 2025 – Aotearoa Art Fair, Bergman Gallery, Viaduct Events Centre, Auckland, New Zealand • 2025 – Horny Jail II, Nasha Gallery, Sydney, Australia • 2024 – Aotearoa Art Fair, Bergman Gallery, Viaduct Events Centre, Auckland, New Zealand • 2024 – Fa’aaliga – Beneath the Surface, Bergman Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand • 2023 – Horizon, Bergman Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand • 2023 – Tukufakaholo - Tongan Contemporary. Bergman Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand • 2022 – Aotearoa Art Fair, Bergman Gallery, The Cloud, Auckland, New Zealand • 2022 – Te Atuitanga Beneath Our Cloak of Stars. Bergman Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand • 2022 – Whetūrangitia/Made As Stars. The Dowse Art Museum, Wellington, New Zealand • 2021 – Mānawatia Takatāpui / Defending Plurality, Tauranga Art Gallery, Tauranga, New Zealand • 2020–2021 – SALTWATER/Interconnectivity. TAUTAI, Auckland, New Zealand == References ==