Christopher Ulutupu

Christopher Ulutupu is a contemporary artist of Samoan, Niuean and German descent. Born in 1987, he lives in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington.

Christopher uses the conventions of cinematic storytelling to interrogate the relationships between landscape and indigenous identities. He employs a cast of actors consisting almost entirely of friends and family in his work. These actors sing, dance and perform, often hamming it up for the camera. There’s pop-culture reference abound, from girl-group renditions of Britney Spears to a loose re-enactment of an infamous drug-fuelled photoshoot for a luxury furs catalogue. However, in these references brown bodies take centre stage. The artist is as much interested here in contending with Samoan and Pacific representation as he is centring his personal relationships—in his work a singer is his sister, the keyboardist his partner, one bride is played by his mother.

Inspired early in his career by postcard imagery of Pacific Island nations marketed to early 20th Century European audiences, Christopher’s video work challenges an assumed affinity between exotic-nature and exotic-person. Vignettes or scenarios are regularly set against striking landscapes, but equally featured are highly constructed environments. With a background in film and theatre, Christopher understands the dramatic potential of scenery. One video might take place high atop the Southern Alps, while another might feature a green screen waterfall. Both tactics are part of the world-making of film, and this is part of Christopher’s skill as a storyteller. Like any good speculative fiction based beyond reality, he creates an internal logic of storytelling. It’s a logic that challenges assumptions placed on brown bodies and seeks to imagine new alternatives for contemporary indigeneity.