Dagmar Vaikalafi Dyck
Mālō e lelei
As a first generation New Zealander, I am an interdisciplinary artist, researcher, art educator and social justice advocate.
"With an arts practice spanning thirty years my modality of sense-making has found its strongest voice when anchored in my creative process. The merging of ideas and materials offer invitation to methods of exploration and understanding, processes that embrace levels of vulnerability and curiosity."
My Story
In 1995 I graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland. I was the first woman of Tongan descent to do so. I have spent the last 30 years regularly exhibiting nationally and internationally with my works being held in both significant public and private collections in New Zealand.
I taught for 10 years at Sylvia Park School and as Deputy Principal led Curriculum design whilst championing their Arts programme and whole school Inquiry learning. I am currently Programme Manager, Pacific-led Education at Tui Tuia | Learning Circle - UniServices at the University of Auckland. My Masters research focused on examining art teachers’ beliefs, attitudes and pedagogical practices and how these could affirm Pasifika students’ success as Pasifika.
I hold several governance roles and am a Council Board member (Ministerial Appointment) for The Teaching Council. I also Chair the Pacific Education Steerage Group for the Teaching Council. I am a member of the NCEA Pacific Peoples Review Panel for the Ministry of Education, a member of The Arts Ohu Mātanga NZ Curriculum Refresh writing group, and a member of the Executive Committee for Aotearoa NZ Association of Art Educators (ANZAAE) and Aotearoa Tongan Teachers Association (ATTA).
My maternal lineage hails from the Wolfgramm and Hemaloto kainga from the villages of ‘Utungake and Tu’anuku. My paternal lineage includes Dutch, Polish and German ancestry and links to her father’s birthplace in Danzig, Germany, today Gdansk, Poland.
I am a Doctoral candidate at The Faculty of Education and Social Work, The University of Auckland
Represented Galleries:
Orexart Gallery: Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland (original works)
Moana Fresh Gallery: Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland (works on paper)
Miranda Gallery: Pārāwai, Thames (original works and works on paper)
Boyd-Dunlop Gallery: Ahuriri, Napier (original works and works on paper)
Selected CV
DAGMAR VAIKALAFI DYCK Born 30 October 1972
Education
Bachelor of Fine Arts 1991-94,
Post-graduate Diploma of Fine Arts 1995
Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland
Graduate Diploma Teaching (Primary) 2009
Victoria University
Master of Professional Studies (Education) (Hons) 2019
University of Auckland
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023 Falanoa, Orexart Gallery, Auckland
2019 Works, Miranda Gallery, Thames
2017 Un/trained thoughts, Warwick Henderson Gallery, Auckland
2016 Kofukofu Koloa, Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland
Overseas Solo Exhibitions
2014 From Ngatu to Self, Gallery Winkler, Papeete, Tahiti
1995 South Seas Polynesian Culture Week, Sandefjord, Norway
Selected Joint Exhibitions
2021 ‘Amui ‘i Mu’a - Ancient Futures, The Wallace Arts Centre, (with Filipe Tohi)
2018 Whānau, Miranda Gallery, Thames,(Fatu Feu’u/ Helen Feu’u/ Ercan Cairns)
2014 Tonga ‘I Onopooni: Tonga Contemporary, Pataka Museum, Wellington
Selected Overseas Group Exhibitions
2019 ‘Amui ‘ Mu’a - Ancient Futures, Me’a ‘Ofa Gallery, Nuku’alofa, Tonga
2017 Putahi V, Museum of Tahiti, Tahiti
2013 Made in Oceania - Tapa Art and Social Landscapes, Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum – Cultures of the World, Cologne, Germany
2012 Made in NZ - Contemporary Art from NZ, Agora Gallery, New York, USA
SHContemporary Art Fair, Shanghai Exhibition Centre, Shanghai, China
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022 Pacific Print Project, Global Community
Peau Kula, Online Tongan Arts Fundraiser
Heterodox Us, Franklin Arts Centre
2021 Open Channels, Miranda Gallery, Thames
2020 Legacy of an Era, Lake House Gallery
2019 Paradise Lost: Daniel Solander’s Legacy, Solander Gallery, Wellington
2018 Shine on Seleka, Small Axe Studio
Auckland Art Fair, Warwick Henderson Gallery, The Cloud
2017 Art + Auction, Raparua School, Blenheim
Selected International Collections
Tonga High Commission – Hong Kong
New Zealand High Commission - Tonga
Tjiboau Cultural Centre – New Caledonia
Selected National Collections
Wallace Art Collection
New Zealand Parliamentary Collection, Wellington
MFAT Collection – Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade Art
Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, Wellington
Sky City Hotel, Auckland
Selected Awards and Honours
2022 Leadership New Zealand Programme - Creative New Zealand Scholarship
2019 Arts Grant (65K), Creative New Zealand
Teacher Study Award - Sabbatical
2016 - 2020 Marsden Fund - Selected Research Artist for ‘Ancient Futures: Late 18th & early 19th Century Tongan arts and their legacies’
Selected Bibliography (* Reviews)
2021 We are all accountable, The Big Idea, by the artist
Joy, colour, wonder, fun life: wellbeing and the arts by Melissa Schwalger
* ‘Amui ‘I Mu‘a – Ancient Futures’ linking traditional and contemporary Tongan art: Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples
‘Amui ‘i Mua: Ancient Futures: Dagmar Vaikalafi Dyck and Sopolemalama Filipe Tohi, Exhibition catalogue with contributing essays by Billie Lythberg, Phyllis Herda, Melenatie Taumoefolau and Seini Taufa
Ngatu Led me North: Reflections on ‘Amu’i Mu’ua-Ancient Futures*, Art New Zealand, By Hatesa Seumanutafa
2020 Ancient futures, Art News Summer, by Billie Lythberg
Raised amongst the Kainga, The Pantograph Punch, by the artist
2019 Paradise Lost, Daniel Solander’s Legacy, Exhibition Catalogue
2018 Building Bridges, Article by Claire Chamberlain, Channel Magazine, October
2017 Connections from Here to There, from Yesterday to Today: Cologne Exhibition 2013-14 “Made in Oceania:Tapa - Art and Social Landscapes”, Article by Oliver Lueb, for TAPA From Tree bark to Cloth: An Ancient art of Oceania Publication
2016 Between the Folds, Article by Ane Tonga, Art New Zealand, Winter
National Work
2021 - current Aotearoa Association of Art Educators Executive Committee
2020 - current NCEA Pacific Peoples Review Panel - Ministry of Education
2019 - current Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand Council Member (Ministerial Appointment)
2021 - current Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand Inaugural Chair - Pacific Education Steerage Group
2021 Te Rito Toi - Content Creator Pasifika Arts, The University of Auckland
2019 Tapasā National Workshop Facilitator - Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand
2018-19 Tapasā Expert Teacher Group - Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand
Volunteer Work
2021 - current Pacific Advisory Board - Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland Museum
2020 - current Aotearoa Tongan Teachers Association Founding Committee member
2019-21 Board of Trustees - Auckland Girls Grammar School
2016-19 Board of Trustees - One Tree Hill College
2015 - current No’o Fakataha Tongan Arts Collective Founding Member / NZ
Selected extra curricular activities
2022 Café Scientifique series, Auckland Museum Institute, Project Presentation
2021 Tonga Research Association: Anga, Tala, & Lea Tu’ufonua: Indigenous Culture, History and Language. Presentation, Virtual Conference, University of Hawai’i
The Kingdom of Tonga - Language and Arts, Panel talk, The University of Auckland
‘Amui ‘i Mua: Ancient Futures: Artist talanoa and Catalogue launch, The Wallace Arts Centre
2020 The Nomadic Art Gallery Project participant
Panelist, South Pacific Islander Organisation Virtual Summit
2019 Artist Talk at ‘Georg-Forster-Gesellshaft’, Woerlitz/Dessau, Germany
Presenter at Museum Ethnographers Group, Horniman Museum, London
2018 Artist talk at Raven Row hosted by University of Auckland & In*ter*is*land Collective, London
Co-ordinator of Shine on Seleka Fundraiser Initiative