Video installation
During my residency with Te Pūnaha Matatini, I created Ongo mei he Fonua – Sounds of Soil (Contamination), a work exploring the interconnected relationships between land, people, and environmental histories. Grounded in the Tongan concept of fonua—meaning land, soil, people, and womb—the project investigates how art can make visible and audible what is often unseen.
The work was developed in collaboration with Dr Emma Sharp and her research with SoilSafe Aotearoa, a citizen-science initiative measuring soil contaminants across Aotearoa New Zealand. Using 1,000 measurements of arsenic and lead, I transformed scientific data into an immersive soundscape and visual installation.
The data was translated into musical tones performed through recordings of the fangufangu, a traditional Tongan nose flute recorded by Willy Fehoko. Traditionally used to awaken chiefs and nobility, the instrument became a call to awareness around environmental contamination. Higher tones represented readings above government safety thresholds, while silence marked zero readings.
From these sounds, I developed kupesi informed by Tongan design traditions. Arsenic and lead were visualised through distinct colours, forms, and angles based on their atomic numbers. By bringing together science, sound, and Tongan knowledge systems, Ongo mei he Fonua invites audiences to listen, reflect, and reconnect with their relationship to the land.
Sione Faletau is an interdisciplinary artist of Tongan descent based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa. His practice explores the intersections of sound, light, and Indigenous pattern-making through digital and sculptural forms. Grounded in the Tongan concept of ‘ongo—meaning sound, feeling, and listening—his work translates environmental soundscapes into kupesi (traditional Tongan patterns), revitalising ancestral knowledge through contemporary technologies like projection mapping and audio-visual installation.
Faletau holds a Doctor of Fine Arts from the University of Auckland, where his research focused on Tongan masculinity from an Indigenous perspective. His work has been exhibited internationally and nationally, including the Hawai‘i Triennial 2025, Bundanon Art Museum, Artspace Sydney, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, and Audio Foundation. He is also the recipient of several awards and residencies, including the Toi Hourua Digital Grant, the Te Pūnaha Matatini Artist Residency, and the Digital Fellowship (Australia Council and Creative New Zealand).
Through his practice, Faletau continues to build connections between fonua (land), moana (ocean), and cultural memory, offering new ways of storytelling that honour and reimagine Moana Pacific visual languages.
lnstagram: @sionefaletauartist
On view from October 2 until 17 at: Flutgraben – Mehrzweckhalle
RELATED EVENTS
Performance: Oct. 2, 8 pm / Flutgraben – Mehrzweckhalle
Symposium: Oct. 9, 3 pm / Flutgraben – Projektraum
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Foto: Sione Faletau © 2025