Angela Tiatia, Vaiola, 2026

Lighting up the MCA for Vivid Sydney 2026 is Sāmoan-Australian artist Angela Tiatia’s Vaiola!  

On 22 May, Vaiola will be the first light projection to illuminate Sydney. Powerful and evocative, the work will be presented at monumental scale on the MCA facade with an accompanying score by Corin Ileto.  

Telling a story of migration and longing, the projection explores memory, belonging, Pacific cultures and beauty through Tiatia’s distinctive cinematic language. 

Artist statement

I’m delighted to be presenting Vaiola at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. This large-scale projection brings together two of my major moving-image works, The Pearl (2021) and The Dark Current (2023).

Together, The Pearl and The Dark Current can be understood as the two opening movements of a trilogy that considers femininity, migration and belonging through a distinctly Pacific lens. The Pearl reimagines the Roman myth of Venus rising from a shell through the story of the Pacific creator god Ta’aroa, also born in a clamshell. Using lush, high-resolution CGI, hibiscus, luminous pearls and cascading water become part of a ceremony in an ancient marae (meeting place). Originally commissioned by The Ian Potter Cultural Trust, The Dark Current weaves together matrilineal heritage and Pacific history through a blend of digital and live-action worlds. 

Vaiola takes its name from an area close to my home in Savai'i, Sāmoa and means ‘water of life.’ Across the work, water is a recurring force: sensual and powerful, a carrier of memory, movement and transformation. Connecting islands and communities across the Pacific, water grounds the work in Oceanic futurism, inviting audiences to reflect on our natural environment and collective becoming.