The Upu Collective
The Upu Collective
Pacific makers creating pacific centered works.
We are a collective of Pacific performing artist based in New Zealand. Our mission is to create more opportunities for Pacific performing artists by making contemporary, Pacific centred works for the stage and screen. Upu Collective artists are not only dedicated collaborators but also accomplished professionals in their own right. Each member boasts a wealth of experience across the stage and screen landscape of New Zealand.
Our show UPU is a stunning theatrical experience of Pacific poetry on stage. Its on tour now having been to Mexico and Montréal in 2024. Details below.
UPU
2026 Tour Dates
Were excited to announce that we are on the road again in 2026!
Following on from our tour to Turtle Island (Canada) earlier this year we are heading back across the ditch to Australia!
We start at Riverside Live at Phive in Parramatta.
Then we head to Victoria for the Kindred Festival at Monash University.
Then across town at the Wyndham Cultural Centre before coming home for one show only at the Koanga Festival at Te Pou Theatre.
Follow the Linktree below for tickets.
UPU means "word" in many of our Pacific languages.
UPU is our theatre show written by Pacific poets.
We’ve taken the works of 28 poets; from young voices,, international activists, top Literary prize winners, to Poet Laureates, major influences in Pacific Literature and put it in the theatre with lights, sound and actors.
We also offer a Poetry Writing workshop that can be tailored for begginers to established writers.
We would love to bring the power of Pacific poetry and performance to your audience.
UPU | Poems
No One is an Island - For Georgie (excerpt) / Teresia Teaiwa
A Samoan Star Chant For Matariki / Selina Tusitala Marsh
Pō / Brandy Nālani McDougal
Inside Us The Dead: Polynesians / Maualaivao Albert Wendt
How I Got My Name / Briar Grace-Smith
Moko / Ben Brown
Warrior Wig And Boar Tusk Pendant / Daren Kamali
On Cooking Captain Cook / Brandy Nālani McDougall
Spam’s Carbon Footprint / Craig Santos Perez
SONGS OF THE FAT BROWN WOMAN / Sia Figiel
This Is A Photo Of My House / Tusiata Avia
Inside Us The Dead: Missionaries / Maualaivao Albert Wendt
Vatu Invocation / Grace Mera Molisa
15 (excerpt from ‘Thirty Songs of Love andLife by the Nineteenth-Century Poet Tomai,of Liku’ in The Shark That Ate the Sun) / John Pule
For Makelesi Taulepa: Fefine mei Ofu / Karlo Mila
16 (excerpt from ‘Thirty Songs of Love andLife by the Nineteenth-Century Poet Tomai,of Liku’ in The Shark That Ate the Sun) / John Pule
I am the Māori Jesus / Ben Brown
Cross / Albert Leomala
Natives Wanted / Brandi Nalani McDougall
Girl from Tuvalu / Selina Tusitala Marsh
Tell Them / Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner
Basket / No'u Revilla
White Land / Celestine Kylagoe
Letter to the Colonel / Koani Helu Thaman
Two Nudes on a Tahitian Beach / Selina Tusitala Marsh
When a Pākeha tells a Māori joke / Hone Tuwhare
Daddy Said / Tafea Polamalu
Virgin Loi / Karlo Mila
Tropical / Lyz Soto
Paradise Pasefika / Leilani Tamu
How do I dekolonize myself / Darren Kamali
Lapita Pot / Apirana Taylor
No one is an Island (excerpt) / Teresia Teaiwa
