Pelenakeke Brown

'''Pelenakeke Brown''' is a multi-disciplinary New Zealand artist. In 2019 she was awarded the Disability Dance Artistry Award by ''Dance/NYC'', and was recognised for her work through Creative NZ's Arts Pasifika Awards with the Pacific Toa award in 2020.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=About|url=https://www.kekebrown.com/about|access-date=2022-02-18|website=PELENAKEKE BROWN|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web|title=Pelenakeke Brown|url=https://www.meetingplaceforum.org/artists-presenters/pelenakeke-brown/|access-date=2022-02-18|website=Meeting Place|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Pelenakeke (Keke) Brown |url=https://www.centerforthehumanities.org/programming/participants/pelenakeke-keke-brown |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=The Center for the Humanities |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Career == Brown was 9 years old when she became a founding member and company dancer for Touch Compass. Her involvement lasted from 1997 to 2000, when she left to focus on her schooling.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=2020-05-12 |title=Pelenakeke Brown: Access all areas the aim for new dance leader |url=https://rangitoto-observer.co.nz/pelenakeke-brown-access-all-areas-the-aim-for-new-dance-leader/ |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=Rangitoto Observer |language=en-US}}</ref> After secondary school, Brown studied at the University of Auckland (2007–2010), completing a bachelor of arts in Pacific studies and English literature.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Speakers |url=https://www.dance.nyc/programs/dancenyc-events/IDAC/speakers |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=www.dance.nyc |language=en}}</ref> In 2011, she undertook the Be Leadership programme with Be Lab, a New Zealand accessibility organisation.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Be. Leadership Alumni News: Interdisciplinary Artist Pelenakeke Brown |url=https://www.belab.co.nz/items/be-leadership-alumni-news-interdisciplinary-artist-pelenakeke-brown |access-date=2022-03-01 |website=www.belab.co.nz |language=en}}</ref> About the programme, Brown stated “Everyone has the potential to be a great leader and the Be.Leadership programme has helped me realize that I could be one too.”<ref name=":2" />

After completing her undergraduate study and spending some time in the work force, Brown left New Zealand to continue studies in New York, moving in 2013 and studying at the National Academy School of Fine Arts completing the Studio Intensive Programme in 2016.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2016-09-07 |title=Nonfiction by Pelenakeke Brown |url=https://thejamesfrancoreview.com/2016/09/07/nonfiction-by-pelenakeke-brown/ |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=The James Franco Review |language=en}}</ref>

Brown's work is embedded in the Samoan concept Vā'.<ref name=":3" /><blockquote>Vā centers spatial relationships as a way to understand and move in the world. In my art practice, this translates to interrogating relationships, how we relate to ourselves, each other. I am fascinated with the in-between spaces and how our in-between spaces inform the way we navigate the world. (Brown)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-10-01 |title=Pelenakeke Brown |url=https://wp.nyu.edu/gallatingalleries/pelenakeke-brown/ |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=The Gallatin Galleries |language=en-US}}</ref></blockquote>Brown has exhibited work across the United States of America, in California, New York and San Francisco and in Germany, London, and New Zealand. She has been published in the ''James Franco Review'', ''Apogee Journal'', ''Movement Research Performance Journal'' and the ''Hawai'i Review''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pelenakeke Brown |url=http://www.oranygallery.com/pelenakeke-brown |access-date=2022-03-19 |website=ORA Gallery |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":10" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Studio |first=Familiar |date=2022-03-18 |title=Pelenakeke (Keke) Brown |url=https://movementresearch.org/people/pelenakeke-brown |access-date=2022-03-19 |website=Movement Research |language=en}}</ref>

Brown spent six and a half years based in New York, where she engaged in choreography, movement, dance, curation, visual arts, writing, and storytelling. She has collaborated with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Public Library, Goethe Institute and Gibney Dance Centre for projects. She has held art residencies in New York, Vermont and New Zealand. She returned to Auckland, New Zealand in mid-2019 and took up the role of artistic director at Touch Compass the following year, becoming the first disabled artist to lead the company in its twenty four years of operation.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=PRESENTS – Pelenakeke Brown |url=https://vitalcapacities.com/presents/02/bio.html |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=vitalcapacities.com}}</ref>

In 2020, Brown collaborated with artist Yo Yo Lin and co-founded ''Rotations'', "a dance collaborative movement working towards deepening and challenging our understanding of artistry, disability, and access".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=Vicki |date=2021-11-25 |title=What's on: Event highlights in Ōtautahi Christchurch |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/christchurch-life/127067358/whats-on-event-highlights-in-tautahi-christchurch |access-date=2022-03-15 |website=Stuff |language=en}}</ref>

Brown was the keynote speaker for the Ōtautahi Tiny Fest in 2021; writer Kosta Bogoievski described Brown's talk as ''<nowiki/>'''an emotional opening, as festivals can be but Tiny Fest happens to be, in 2021, one of the last live performance festivals standing in the country''<nowiki/>'.''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tiny Fest - Things morph, amplify, distort in delightfully unexpected ways |url=https://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=12948 |access-date=2022-03-19 |website=www.theatreview.org.nz}}</ref>

In March 2022, Brown was part of an online panel discussion for Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival wānanga series ''Te Ara i te Matihiko Toi'', to discuss access, inclusion and participation within the performing arts.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-09 |title=Online Wānanga on Access & Inclusion in the Performing Arts ⋆ Te Tairawhiti Arts Festival 2021 |url=https://tetairawhitiartsfestival.nz/access-and-inclusion-wananga/ |access-date=2022-03-19 |website=Te Tairawhiti Arts Festival 2021 |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2022 Brown is one of the panel members evaluating proposals to the Innovation Fund at the New Zealand Ministry of Culture and Heritage. Other panel members are W. Gary Nicholas and Ian Barrs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Innovation Fund |url=https://mch.govt.nz/innovation-fund |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=Ministry for Culture and Heritage}}</ref>

== Performances == {| class="wikitable" |+ !Year !Show/Company !Role !Location !Ref. |- |1997- 2000 |Touch Compass Dance Trust |Company Dancer |NZ |<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Magazine |first=Viva |title=Get To Know Interdisciplinary Artist Pelenakeke Brown - Viva |url=https://www.viva.co.nz/article/culture-travel/pelenakeke-brown-expresses-the-power-of-dance-during-exceptional-times/ |access-date=2022-03-14 |website=www.viva.co.nz |language=en-US}}</ref> |- |2017 |''A Remedy for a Constitutional Crisis'' (Abrons Art Center) |Performer |NYC. NY |<ref>{{Cite web |title=Maya Ciarrocchi {{!}} A Remedy for a Constitutional Crisis {{!}} David Hamilton Thomson |url=https://davidhamiltonthomson.com/maya-ciarrocchi-a-remedy-for-a-constitutional-crisis/#:~:text=Abrons%20Art%20Center&text=A%20Remedy%20for%20a%20Constitutional%20Crisis%20is%20an%20eight-hour,Day)%20from%2012pm-8pm. |access-date=2022-03-15 |website=davidhamiltonthomson.com}}</ref> |- |2017 |''Boogie on the Boulevard'' (Bronx Museum of the Arts) |Performer |Bronx, NY |<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-09-06 |title=Artist News {{!}} Immigrant Artists Collective at "Boogie on the Boulevard" |url=https://www.nyfa.org/artist-news-immigrant-artists-collective-at-165054426593/ |access-date=2022-03-15 |website=NYFA |language=en-US}}</ref> |- |2018 |''Exca'''vā'''tion'' (Denniston Hill Open House) |Performer |Woodridge, NY |<ref>{{Cite web |title=lutte collective |url=https://luttecollective.com/featured-artists/pelenakeke-brown |access-date=2022-03-15 |website=luttecollective.com}}</ref> |- |2018 |''Sunshower'' (Yuko Uchida, Ideal Glass Studio) |Performer |NYC, NY |<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ideal Glass Studio |title=Press Release for Sunshower |url=https://vsbart.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/press-release-final-1.pdf |page=1}}</ref> |- |2019 |''Down In The River'' Judson Memorial Church |Performer |NY |<ref>{{Cite web |last=movementresearch |date=2019-10-10 |title=Movement Research at the Judson Church — September 16, 2019 |url=https://movementresearch.medium.com/movement-research-at-the-judson-church-september-16-2019-3dacc28e34dc |access-date=2022-03-15 |website=Medium |language=en}}</ref> |- |2019 |''Excavātion:'' ''An Archival Process'' (Gibney Dance Center) |Performer |NY |<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-05-14 |title=Making Art Accessible |url=https://www.thebigidea.nz/stories/making-art-accessible |access-date=2022-03-14 |website=The Big Idea |language=en}}</ref> |- |2020 |''WITH'' (Tanzplattform supported by the Goethe Institute) |Performer |Munich, Germany |<ref name=":6" /> |- |2022 |''Vā Moana Conference'' (Auckland University of Technology, online) |Artist actiVAtor |Auckland, NZ |<ref>{{Cite book |title=Vā Moana: Space and Relationality in Pacific Thought and Identity |publisher=Auckland University of Technology |year=2021 |url=https://cdr.aut.ac.nz/va-moana-space-and-relationality-in-pacific-thought-and-identity-conference/ |pages=119 |language=English}}</ref> |}

== Solo exhibitions == {| class="wikitable" |+ !Year !Title !Organisation !Location !Ref. |- |2017 |''Reasoning on Paper: The Myth Of Herself'' |ORA Gallery |NYC, NY |<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-01-12 |title=Reasoning On Paper: The Myth Of Herself {{!}} Ora Gallery, NY |url=https://archive.tautai.org/reasoning-on-paper-the-myth-of-herself-ora-gallery-ny/ |access-date=2022-03-14 |website=TAUTAI - GUIDING PACIFIC ARTS |language=en-US}}</ref> |- |2017 |''In Conversation with Line'' |Sonia Gechtoff Gallery |NYC, NY |<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |title=CV |url=https://www.kekebrown.com/resume |access-date=2022-03-14 |website=PELENAKEKE BROWN |language=en-US}}</ref> |}

== Group exhibitions == {| class="wikitable" |+ !Year !Title !Organisation !Location !Ref. |- |2015 |''Experiments in Self Portraiture'' |Sonia Gechtoff Gallery |Manhattan, NY |<ref name=":9" /> |- |2015 |''FACE IT: The Face in Contemporary Art'' |Onsite:Brooklyn |Brooklyn, NY |<ref>{{Cite web |title=FACE IT: The Face in Contemporary Art |url=https://www.sitebrooklyn.com/face-it-the-face-in-contemporary-art |access-date=2022-03-14 |website=Site:Brooklyn Gallery |language=en-US}}</ref> |- |2016 |''Urban Indigenous X'' |Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center |San Francisco, CA |<ref>{{Cite web |title=URBAN x INDIGENOUS |url=https://www.apiculturalcenter.org/urban_x_indigenous |access-date=2022-03-14 |website=Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center}}</ref> |- |2016 |''Creative Mischief'' |National Academy Museum |NYC, NY |<ref name=":9" /> |- |2016 |''Black and White Perspectives: Works on Paper'' |Sonia Gechtoff Gallery |NYC, NY |<ref name=":9" /> |- |2017 |''Trash Capsules'' |New Women Space |Brooklyn, NY |<ref>{{Cite web |title=Trash Capsules: Archives of Illness, Food, and Diaspora |url=https://www.facebook.com/events/new-women-space/trash-capsules-archives-of-illness-food-and-diaspora/1273354092792031/ |access-date=2022-03-14 |website=www.facebook.com |language=en}}</ref> |- |2017 |''Creative Mischief'' |National Academy Museum |NYC, NY |<ref name=":9" /> |- |2017 |''Ka Ora'' |ORA Gallery |NYC, NY |<ref>{{Cite web |title=ARTISTS |url=http://www.oranygallery.com/work |access-date=2022-03-14 |website=ORA Gallery |language=en-US}}</ref> |- |2018 |''Rendering Likeness'' |La Bodega Gallery |Brooklyn, NY |<ref name=":9" /> |- |2019 |''Mana Moana, Mana Wāhine,'' |Raven Row Gallery |London, UK |<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |last=Watlington |first=Emily |date=2021-03-09 |title=Cripping Choreography |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/features/disability-dance-1234586026/ |access-date=2022-03-15 |website=ARTnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref> |- |2019 |''Talk Back'' (Curated by Lexy Ho Tai and Moira Williams) |Flux Factory |Queens, NY |<ref>{{Cite web |title=Talk Back – Flux Factory |url=https://www.fluxfactory.org/event/talk-back/ |access-date=2022-03-14 |language=en-US}}</ref> |- |2020 |''Here To Lounge'' |Nook Gallery |CA |<ref>{{Cite web |title=Here to Lounge |url=https://shannonfinnegan.com/here-to-lounge |access-date=2022-03-14 |website=Shannon Finnegan |language=en-US}}</ref> |- |2021 |''All That You Touch You Change'' |Helmhaus (Stadt Zurich) |Zurich, Germany |<ref>{{Cite web |title=All That You Touch, You Change |url=https://allthatyoutouch.ch/ |access-date=2022-03-14 |website=allthatyoutouch.ch |language=en}}</ref> |}

== Residencies == {| class="wikitable" |+ !Year !Residency !Organisation !Location !Ref. |- |2016 |Residency |Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT |NYC, NY |<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Studio |first=Familiar |date=2022-03-13 |title=Pelenakeke (Keke) Brown |url=https://movementresearch.org/people/pelenakeke-brown |access-date=2022-03-14 |website=Movement Research |language=en}}</ref> |- |2016 |Immigrant Artists Programme:Social Practice |New York Foundation For The Arts |NY |<ref>{{Cite web |title=2020 Resident Artists in Conversation {{!}} Part Two: Pelenakeke Brown and Elissa Moorehead with Jeff Kasper and Tina Campt |url=https://www.eyebeam.org/events/2020culmination/ |access-date=2022-03-14 |website=Eyebeam |language=en-us}}</ref> |- |2018 |Artist in Residence: Ana Pekapeka Studio |Corbans Art Estate |AK, NZ |<ref name=":7" /> |- |2018 |Create Change Fellow |Laundromat Project |NYC, NY |<ref name=":5" /> |- |2018 |Performance Art Seminar with Xaviera Simmons |Denniston Hill |NY |<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Pelenakeke |title=She Returns |url=https://pantograph-punch.com//posts/she-returns,%20https://pantograph-punch.com//posts/she-returns |access-date=2022-03-14 |website=Pantograph Punch}}</ref> |- |2019 |Artist in Residence |Denniston Hill/Laundromat Project |NY |<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alumni |url=https://www.dennistonhill.org/alumni |access-date=2022-03-14 |website=Denniston Hill |language=en-US}}</ref> |- |2019 |Disability Dance Artistry Residency |DANCE/NYC |NY |<ref name=":3" /> |- |2020 |Artist in Residence |Eyebeam |NY |<ref name=":8" /> |}

== Scholarships and awards == {| class="wikitable" |+ !Year !Scholarship/Award !Organisation !Location !Ref. |- |2006 |Bursary Scholarship |ASB |AK, NZ |<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=CV |url=https://www.kekebrown.com/resume |access-date=2022-03-01 |website=PELENAKEKE BROWN |language=en-US}}</ref> |- |2007 |Vice-Chancellor's Award for Top Māori and Pacific Scholars |University of Auckland |NZ |<ref name=":1" /> |- |2013 |Future New Zealand Charitable Trust Scholarship |Future New Zealand |NZ |<ref name=":1" /> |- |2014 |National Academy School Scholarship |National Academy |NY, USA |<ref name=":1" /> |- |2019 |Disability Dance Artistry Award |''Dance/NYC'' |NY, USA |<ref name=":5" /> |- | rowspan="2" |2020 |Pacific Toa - Arts Pasifika Awards |Creative New Zealand |WGN, NZ |<ref name=":5" /> |- |PAK’nSAVE Artistic Achievement Award - Te Putanga Toi Arts Access Awards |Arts Access Aotearoa |NZ |<ref>{{Cite web |title=Te Putanga Toi Arts Access Awards 2020 celebrate diversity and the arts |url=https://www.creativenz.govt.nz/news/te-putanga-toi-arts-access-awards-2020-celebrate-diversity-and-the-arts |access-date=2022-03-29 |website=Creative New Zealand |language=en-NZ}}</ref> |}

== Personal life == Brown has Samoan and Palagi (non-Samoan) heritage.

== References == <references />

== External References == Gender/Power Composition IV Performance https://vimeo.com/188065481

Pelenakeke Brown Movement Research at the Judson Church https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArMqVHODgcM&t=15s

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Pelenakeke}} Category:Samoan women writers Category:21st-century Samoan writers Category:Living people Category:New Zealand choreographers Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:New Zealand people of Samoan descent