Art of Conversation: Curated by Giulia Pianelli

The art of conversation is back for 2026, with a fourth rendition of artists and venues. The Art of Conversation is a series highlighting artists who share connections to the East Auckland area. Each invited artist will talk about their work and their practice in their favorite local café. This free series aims to break the formal nature of artist talks and support local businesses. All we ask is that when you attend, you purchase a hot or cold drink to support the chosen local business. Think good vibes, great art chat, and supporting locals with a nice beverage. This will run throughout the months of November 2026.

Giulia is incredibly excited to be curating the fourth edition of The Art of Conversation and to present such an amazing line-up of artists! Carla, Salome, Lina, Sahana, and Gary all come from different backgrounds and engage with distinct artistic practices, reflecting the vibrant diversity that makes the East Auckland community so unique.

Based “out east” herself, Giulia is also very happy to support local businesses through this project and to create opportunities for artists and communities to connect in these local spaces”.

Check out the series, make sure the dates are in your diary.

• Carla Ruka
  Sunday 1 November, 2pm
  Zabr'One
  47 The Parade, Bucklands Beach, Auckland

  To Book

• Salome Tanuvasa
  Saturday 7 November, 11.30am 
  Hawthorn Dene
  Down the long driveway 280 Botany Road, Golflands, Auckland 2013

  To Book

• Lina Castro
  Saturday 14 November, 12 PM 
  Rombus Cafe + Bar
  35 Cook Street, Howick, Auckland 2014

  To Book

• Sahana Rahman
  Saturday 21 November, 12PM
  Uxbridge
  35 Uxbridge Road, Mellons Bay, Auckland 2014

  To Book

• Gary $ilipa
  Saturday 28 November, 12:00 PM
  Te Tuhi
  Te Tuhi 21 William Roberts Rd, Pakuranga, Auckland

  To Book

About Giulia Pianelli

Giulia is an art professional and curator committed to supporting socially and politically engaged practices. She sees her work as a way to amplify activist messages and foster cross-cultural exchange through contemporary art.

Originally from Italy, Giulia is currently based in Tāmaki Makaurau, where she works as Marketing Lead at The Arts House Trust. She previously held positions at Te Tuhi and at other galleries and organisations across Aotearoa and Europe. She is also developing an independent curatorial practice, with recent projects including Le Vu and Rebekah Sohn: Lines We Carry, Franklin Arts Centre (2026) and noa hāmana: Haerenga, Studio One Toi Tū (2026). 

Giulia holds a Bachelor’s degree in Arts Management from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, a Master's degree in Global Marketing from the University of Milan, and a diploma in Australian Aboriginal Art History from Curtin University (Perth).

This year’s artists include: Carla Ruku, Salome Tanuvasa, Lina Castro, Sahana Rahman, Gary $ilipa

About the creatives

Carla Ruka

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 (genealogy).
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

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

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

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

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.

Arts Out East is a Te Tuhi programme supported by the Howick Local Board.