This thought-provoking photographic exhibition explores Tokelau’s unique way of life through the lenses of two New Zealand photographers, Glenn Jowitt and Andrew Matautia. Jowitt first visited Tokelau in 1981, and Matautia 36 years later, in 2017.

Faka-Tokelau compares and contrasts the two artist’s images alongside one another, revealing the constant, ongoing change on Tokelau’s fragile atoll.

With a focus on climate change, Faka-Tokelau: Living with Change portrays how people on the isolated and low-lying atolls of Tokelau live.

The vulnerabilities they face due to the ever-present threat of rising sea levels is evident in both Jowitt’s images from 1981, and Matautia’s in the present day.

Image Credit: Glenn Jowitt Men carrying bananas, Tokelau, 1981 Gift of Glenn Jowitt Estate, 2015. Te Papa

Developed and toured by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa