DANCE PROTEST
Project Banaba, Katerina Teaiwa
Inspired by research in the Chau Chak Wing Museum archives and collections, Katerina Teaiwa presents new work exploring Banaban dance as a form of protest.
Dance Protest, Project Banaba is the latest in an exhibition series by artist Katerina Teaiwa and curator Yuki Kihara, exploring the history of Banaba, an island in the central Pacific.
In the 20th century, the British Phosphate Commissioners, a partnership between the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, mined 22 million tons of phosphate from the island. In 1945, Banabans endured forced relocation to Rabi Island, Fiji.
Expressing their identity and resistance to this colonial project, Banabans revitalised their song and dance repertoires. In the 1970s, when they sued the British government and company for the decimation of their island, dancers led the protest marches that accompanied the legal proceedings.
American-Australian dancer Beth Dean documented Banaban and other Pacific peoples’ choreography in the lead-up to the 1st South Pacific Festival of Arts, 1972. Some archival documentation and Banaban dance regalia collected by her, held in the Chau Chak Wing Museum collection, form part of the exhibition.
Dance Protest, Project Banabareframes Banaban dance and cultural authority from a Banaban matriarchal perspective. Taking the dance notation of Te Karanga (spear dance) as inspiration, Katerina Teaiwa has created new artworks in collaboration with her dancer-athlete daughter, Tearia. The exhibition is a dance riposte to Dean and the patriarchal forces that sacrificed ancestral land for short-term economic gain.
Banabans protesting phosphate mining on Banaba (Ocean Island), and seeking political sovereignty and independence from Great Britain and the Colony of the Gilbert Islands, 1979. Photo: courtesy Catherine Alexander.
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LinkKaterina Teaiwais an artist, award-winning teacher, and Professor of Pacific Studies at the Australian National University. She was born and raised in Fiji. Her father is Banaban and Tabiteuean from Kiribati and her mother is African American from Washington DC. Teaiwa has presented solo exhibitions at the Bishop Museum, Carriageworks, Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery and MTG Hawke's Bay Tai Ahuriri. Additionally, her work has been presented at Kathmandu Triennale, Para Site, the University of Queensland Art Museum, and La Trobe Art Institute.
Yuki Kiharais an artist and curator of Japanese and Sāmoan descent working and living in Sāmoa. Kihara represented Aotearoa New Zealand at the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022. Her works are held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art and Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand. Kihara has been the curator of Project Banaba since its inception in 2017.
Tearia Teaiwa Mortimeris an athlete, dancer, and student based in Canberra, and is Katerina Teaiwa’s oldest daughter.
Conservation: Kerry Head
Curatorial support: Rebecca Conway
Exhibition management: Luke Parker and Mikhaela Rodwell
Graphic design: Catseye Bay
Photography: David James
Open seven days a week
Mon - Fri: 10am - 5pm
Sat - Sun: 12 - 4pm
Please note: we are closed on Public Holidays.
Exhibition closes 25 January 2026
Penelope Gallery, Level 1
Chau Chak Wing Museum
Free
Header image:Katerina Teaiwa, Dance Protest 2025with Tearia Teaiwa Mortimer. Photo by David James.
Phone:+61 2 93512812
Email:ccwm.info@sydney.edu.au
Chau Chak Wing Museum
University Place
Camperdown NSW 2050
