Manu – Glen Eden
“What I would say to my 11 year old self is; you’re going to figure it out.
I was born and raised in Glen Eden and Kelston specifically. I moved to Australia with my parents and my older brother when I was 11, and I stayed in Australia for about six years. I came back here when I was 18 to study at Media Design School, and I’ve been studying ever since. I’m 19 now, so I’m a full-time student just trying to figure out my career.
I feel welcome in Auckland. If anything, Auckland is definitely home for me, for sure. In terms of cultural identity I class myself as a Pacific Islander. I think in New Zealand Pacific Islanders are definitely more recognised and thought of as opposed to Australia. Diversity is not as celebrated as it is in New Zealand, which is something that I makes New Zealand special; we actually celebrate each other’s differences – not to say Australia doesn’t do that, but they just don’t do it as much as New Zealand does.
I hope to be a graphic designer in the future. I just believe that I have a talent and a gift from God in terms of art and design, and I’d like to use my skill to share it with others, and make this word better in terms of art, and just open that field up – not just for myself, but I believe that if I can model a graphic designer as a Pacific Islander, as a Tongan and as a New Zealander, I believe that others can be, let’s say motivated from that. I’d hope that others would be inspired in the next generation, like my nieces and nephews, other kids and other adults who look like me. I want to not only build a life for myself, but also build a pathway for others.
I think art can change the world, and I believe that it is changing the world, as we speak. Art can open doors that people didn’t even realise it was a door that was closed. It’s good in terms of the way it can not force people, but encourage people to express themselves in other fields. I think that good role modelling is really significant in our culture especially because typically for Pacific Islanders we have a pre-conceived notion that we all have to just work the same type of jobs, and stay in the type of careers that our parents did, which is something that is not entirely true.
I think that being a role model and a Pacific Islander is very important, because I can show, and we can show other children and other people who look like us, that there is a better future for us, and that we can be what we want to be, which is so cliché and corny, but it’s so true. If I can open that door for myself, then it would be a good thing, because it can show other people that they can open that door, too.”
