Hibiscus Rosa Sinensis

A REAR WINDOW PROJECT

Colour digital video, 16:9, silent, 1 min 31 sec
Collection of the artist, Sydney
Courtesy of the artist and Sullivan and Strumpf Gallery, Sydney

Hibiscus Rose Sinensis centres on a performance by artist Angela Tiatia, inspired by the poem ‘Tuércele el cuello al cisne de engañoso plumaje’ (Wring the neck of the swan with the false plumage), by Mexican writer Enrique González Martínez. Written in 1911, the poem calls for a rejection of the superficial, and alludes to the impacts of dislocation and separation. In Hibiscus Rose Sinensis, Tiatia literally devours the kind of romantic symbolism that has been used to shape imagery surrounding Pacific femininity and the myth of the ‘dusky maiden’ across generations. 

Hibiscus Rose Sinensis was filmed in Vaimaanga, Rarotonga, at the derelict site of a failed Sheraton Resort development. While hidden from the viewer, Tiatia’s work is underpinned by this location; a disastrous capitalist venture that brought Rarotonga’s economy to its knees in the late 1990s. Locking gaze with her viewer, Tiatia’s performance is a striking rejection of intergenerational incursions onto Pacific peoples and lands.

Hibiscus Rose Sinensis is being presented alongside The Dark Current (2023), on display until 27 April 2025 at Dunedin Public Art Gallery.

Angela Tiatia is a contemporary artist who lives in Sydney, Australia. Her artwork explores contemporary culture, representation, gender, neo-colonialism and the commodification of body and place. Tiatia’s artwork has been exhibited around the world and is held in collections including Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; and Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane.