Okaioceanikart, also known as Okai was a pan-Pacific
commercial art gallery based in what was Langham Hotel Mall, situated on Karangahape Road, Auckland, New Zealand. The name Okaioceanikart combined ideas of kai (food) for the soul, kart (internet shopping), as well as art, ocean and kairos, the Greek concept of time and space.
Some of the artists represented or exhibited by Okaioceanikart include
Fatu Feu'u
Fatu Akelei Feu'u (born 1946) is a noted Samoan painter from the village of Poutasi in the district of Falealili in Samoa. He has established a reputation as the elder statesman of Pacific art in New Zealand.
Biography
Feu'u emigrated to N ...
,
Dagmar Dyck, Leua Latai Leonard,
Sylvia Marsters, Abraham Lagi, Daniel Waswas, Kopotama Jacobsen,
Dan Taulapapa McMullin, Sekio Fuapopo, Brian Feni and Sina Panama.
History
In 2007,
Marilyn Kohlhase co-founded Okaioceanikart with Bridget Marsh a pan-Pacific art gallery, on
Karangahape Road
Karangahape Road (commonly known as K' Road) is one of the main streets in the Auckland CBD, central business district (CBD) of Auckland, New Zealand. The massive expansion of motorways through the nearby inner city area – and subsequent flig ...
, Auckland, after an invitation from artist Fatu Feu'u. Kohlhase at the time has worked with
Creative New Zealand
The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand) is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government established in 1963. It invests in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes a ...
and Bridget as a mentor in business.
The gallery, which represented exclusively contemporary artists of the Pacific and Oceania, is believed to be the first gallery in the world to have this focus, the gallery also has a strong focus on Polynesian and Melanesian cultural heritages.
Kohlhase also opened Okai@Reef Gallery with a similar purpose. Kohlhase is known by some as the "art lady". Okaioceanikart closed in 2013.
References
{{Karangahape
Art museums and galleries in Auckland
Auckland CBD
New Zealand art dealers
Art galleries in New Zealand
Art museums and galleries in New Zealand
Karangahape