The Art of Conversation is a series of free events highlighting artists who share connections to East Auckland. Each invited artist will talk about their work and practice in their favourite local café, bar, or restaurant. These informal conversations aim to move away from the traditional format of artist talks while also supporting local businesses.
Attendance at the talks is free, but participants are encouraged to purchase a drink and/or something to eat upon arrival to support the chosen venue.
Curated by Giulia Pianelli, the fourth iteration of The Art of Conversation will take place over five weekends throughout November 2026 and will feature an exciting line-up of artists: Carla Ruka, Salome Tanuvasa, Lina Castro, Sahana Rahman, and Gary $ilipa.
This is a project funded by Arts Out East, supported by Te Tuhi and the Howick Local Board.
The Art of Conversation 4 — Programme
Carla Ruka
Sunday 1 November, 2PM
Zabr'One, 47 The Parade, Bucklands Beach, Auckland 2012Salome Tanuvasa
Saturday 7 November, 11.30AM
Hawthorn Dene, 280 Botany Road, Golflands, Auckland 2013Lina Castro
Saturday 14 November, 12PM
Rombus Cafe + Bar, 35 Cook Street, Howick, Auckland 2014Sahana Rahman
Saturday 21 November, 1.30PM
Uxbridge, 35 Uxbridge Road, Mellons Bay, Auckland 2014Gary $ilipa
Saturday 28 November, 12PM
Te Tuhi, 21 William Roberts Rd, Pakuranga, Auckland
About the artists
Carla Ruka (Instagram • Website)
Carla Ruka is a distinguished clay artist renowned for her distinctive coiling technique, which is deeply immersed in a Māori worldview. Her practice is profoundly inspired by Hineukurangi, the Māori deity of clay, the natural environment (te taiao), and her Māori and European whakapapa.
Carla maintains a diverse creative portfolio, leveraging her art to champion Māori ceramics while actively dedicating herself to community development and support. Her comprehensive work includes an online store, student mentorship, teaching, kapa haka facilitation, exhibition curation, sculpture and installation creation, project management, and community engagement. Furthermore, she holds the position of Pou Ārahi (Principal Cultural Advisor) for Te Tuhi.
Deeply connected to her communities, Carla is a dedicated member of Ngā Kaihanga Uku - Māori Clay Artist Collective and serves as a leader for Hineukurangi, a collective composed for the support and nurture of established and emerging Māori Ceramic Artists.
Salome Tanuvasa (Instagram)
Salome Tanuvasa is a New Zealand-born Tongan-Sāmoan artist whose practice responds directly to her environment and surroundings.
Certain shapes, colours and motifs recur and, by utilising what is around her in poetic and intuitive ways, the artist often speaks to the wider experience of Pacific people living in Aotearoa.
Salome works in a variety of media, including painting, drawing, textiles, photography and video. She is interested in speaking directly to the work of women like her mother, a seamstress, and her textile banner works – rather than being about ‘craft’ – are explorations of labour and joy within and beyond the domestic realm.
Of her practice, she says: “I don’t like wasting materials, and I love challenging myself and seeking potential in mundane objects and offcuts. This gives me a new sense of hope every time.”
Salome completed her Masters degree at Elam School of Fine Arts in 2014 and she followed this with a Diploma in Secondary Teaching. She is represented by Tim Melville Gallery, and lives and works in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
Lina Castro (Instagram)
Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Lina Castro is an Industrial Designer with a background in education, sales and marketing. She discovered embroidery in 2016 and has since pushed the craft beyond the hoop through new techniques, materials and unexpected surfaces.
For Lina, embroidery is more than a craft; it's a safe space where she finds joy and explores her creative being. "Once I started stitching, my obsession has been to create contemporary pieces that bring this craft back to life, showing all the ways you can tell stories and express yourself with needle and thread."
Now based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Lina loves helping students discover something new about themselves, stitch by stitch. As a member of Sur Collective, she has participated in multiple collaborative exhibitions and projects, connecting with and building relationships with local artists.
Sahana Rahman (Instagram)
Sahana Rahman is a painter, textile and community artist of Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan Tamil heritage based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Born and raised in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Sahana graduated with a BFA (Hons) from Massey University in 2022.
Working across painting, embroidery and upcycled materials, her practice explores intuitive material exploration to express lived experience, healing and diasporic identity. Drawing from South Asian art traditions, particularly Bengali Kantha embroidery and its tradition of storytelling through stitching, Sahana brings these influences into her own practice to explore the complexities of navigating life as a brown queer person.
In 2025, Sahana was awarded the Asian Arts Fund Visual Arts Residency, supported by Satellites, Te Tuhi and Foundation North. She explored the hard and soft nature of materials and the in-between spaces they create. In the same year, she also presented her solo exhibition Katha O Maatram: Stories of Belonging at Studio One Toi Tū.
In 2022, Sahana created the ongoing Nokshi Kotha Workshop, a collective embroidery project inspired by Bengali Nokshi Kantha. More than 200 people across Aotearoa have contributed their stories to the growing embroidered mural, creating space for collective healing and joy.
Gary $ilipa (Instagram • Website)
Gary $ilipa is a multidisciplinary artist with Samoan heritage based in Auckland, New Zealand. He has a versatile art practice and is a committed advocate for the role of community arts in fostering wellbeing and connection.
Since 2010, Gary has developed a distinctive visual language that moves beyond his early roots in graffiti, a form he explored extensively from 1998. His studio-based practice now produces works that fluidly inhabit both public spaces and gallery environments.
In 2015, Gary founded The Good The Bad in Glen Innes, the first art gallery in Tāmaki. In 2026, the gallery expanded to a new location at 79 Queens Road, Panmure. In 2025, he also established Books & Pieces at 37 Queens Road, Panmure.