The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately 236.7 square kilometres (91 sq mi). The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers 1,960,027 square kilometres (756,771 sq mi) of ocean. Avarua is its capital.
Tivaevae or tivaivai in the Cook Islands, tifaifai in French Polynesia, is a form of artistic quilting traditionally done by Polynesian women. The word literally means "patches", in reference to the pieces of material sewn together. The tivaevae are either made by one woman or can be created in groups of women called vainetini. The vainetini use this time together to bond, sing and catch up on village news.
Michael "Michel" Cliff Tuffery is a New Zealand artist of Samoan, Tahitian and Cook Islands descent. He is one of New Zealand's most well known artists and his work is held in many art collections in New Zealand and around the world.
Wood carving is a common art form in the Cook Islands. Sculpture in stone is much rarer although there are some excellent carvings in basalt by Mike Tavioni. The proximity of islands in the southern group helped produce a homogeneous style of carving but which had special developments in each island. Rarotonga is known for its fisherman's gods and staff-gods, Atiu for its wooden seats, Mitiaro, Mauke and Atiu for mace and slab gods and Mangaia for its ceremonial adzes. Most of the original wood carvings were either spirited away by early European collectors or were burned in large numbers by missionary zealots.
Ani O'Neill is a New Zealand artist of Cook Island and Irish descent. She has been described by art historian Karen Stevenson as one of the core members of a group of artists of Pasifika descent who brought contemporary Pacific art to "national prominence and international acceptance".
James Earnest Vivieaere, a New Zealand artist of Cook Islands Māori heritage, was born in Waipawa, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. He was a well-respected and significant multimedia and installation artist, freelance curator and a passionate advocate for contemporary Pacific art.
Luise Fong is a Malaysian-born New Zealand artist.
Mahiriki Tangaroa is a New Zealand-born Cook Islands photographer and painter. She is a former director of the Cook Islands National Museum. She is recognised as a leading contemporary Cook Islands artist, and her work is regularly exhibited in galleries in New Zealand and the Cook Islands.
Mark Cross, is a contemporary artist and painter from New Zealand. His works are held in museums and galleries in New Zealand.
Andy Leleisi’uao is a New Zealand artist of Samoan heritage known for his modern and post-modern Pacific paintings and art. He was paramount winner at the 26th annual Wallace Art Awards in 2017 and awarded a Senior Pacific Artist Award at the Arts Pasifika Awards in 2021.
Telly Bronson Tuita is an Australian and New Zealand interdisciplinary artist of Tongan descent notable for 2020 Molly Morpeth Canaday award for the work Three Graces – U'ufoasini, Akale'a, Ta'alea creating. Later in 2021 becoming a finalist for the National Contemporary Art Award for work Diasporas Children Wellington. Also notable for the creator of the fictional word 'Tongpop' defined as a combination of Tuita's adoration for dazzling, distinct hues and traditional 'Tongan ngatu patterns and religious iconography.'
Reuben Paterson is a New Zealand artist based in New York, United States known for using glitter in his works.
Benjamin Work is an artist from New Zealand with Tongan and Scottish heritage. He is well known for his murals across New Zealand, as well as his paintings inspired by his genealogy back to Tonga.
Sylvia Lolita Cathrine Marsters is a New Zealand artist of Cook Islands descent. In 2003, she received a residency in the Cook Islands from Creative New Zealand, and she has exhibited in Rarotonga many times since, as well as in New Zealand, Fiji and New York. Her exhibitions draw big crowds in the Cook Islands.
Joan Elisabeth Gragg is a senior artist and educator from the Cook Islands, with painting career spanning five decades. She founded the Cook Islands' first and only premier art gallery, Beachcomber Contemporary Art, in 1991. Gragg graduated with a Master of Art and Design degree from Auckland University of Technology in 2010. There was an opportunity for Gragg to work towards a doctorate in art but she has discounted that for the meantime.
Tungane Broadbent is a Cook Islands artist, notable for her tivaevae/tivaivai, with her career making tivaivai spanning five decades. Broadbent founded the O’oa Fabric & Fibre Arts group in 2007, Rarotonga, to teach women to sew tivaivai.
Ian David George (1953–2016) was a New Zealand-born Cook Islands senior painter, carver, educator, and curator of Aitu and Rarotonga descent.
Lucas Grogan is an Australian artist born in Cooma, New South Wales. Grogan is a painter and textile artist currently based in Melbourne, Australia. Grogan exhibited extensively overseas and Australia since 2005.
Ron Brownson (1952–2023), also Ronald Brownson, was a prominent New Zealand curator who contributed significantly to Māori and Pacific art and culture in New Zealand. Brownson was the Senior Curator New Zealand and Pacific Art at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. Brownson also held status as a Queer elder and member of New Zealand's Gay Liberation Movement.
Kay George is a senior New Zealand and Cook Islands artist based in Rarotonga, Cook Islands. George is a major player in the development of the visual arts in the Cook Islands.
