Pisupo Lua Afe
Michel Tuffery
1994
Pisupo Lua Afe is a sculpture of a small cattle beast made out of flattened corned beef tins joined together with dozens of rivets. It is a static sculpture and it has small wheels at the feet to move it easily. Pisupo Lua Afe is a life sized artwork. This artwork’s theme of recycling is emphasized by the reuse of cans. Pisupo, a word now commonly used in Samoa to mean canned food, is an object in Samoa that is exchanged at special occasions. Though cattle are raised on many pacific island, pisupo is also exported there. This sculpture represents the replacement of traditional items (cattle) with imported items (pisupo) and the impact of global trade colonial economies on pacific island colonies. The reason it’s called pisupo is because the first import brought to Samoa was canned pea soup, which the Samoans called pisupo (Pea-soup-o). The ‘un-Polynesian looking’ bullock raises the issue of whether foreign intervention encourages independence or actually fosters dependency. Michel Tuffery is one of New Zealand’s best-known artists of Pacific descent, with links to Samoa, Rarotonga and Tahiti. Alongside Pisupo Lua Afe and his other tin can bulls, Tuffery has produced many artworks that address challenges to food sovereignty and the continued exploitation of Pacific Island resources.
Lythberg, Billie. “Michel Tuffery, Pisupo Lua Afe.” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/the-pacific/a/michel-tuffery-pisupo-lua-af.
“Pisupo Lua Afe (Corned Beef 2000).” Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/235630.