Lianga, Ake (1975 - )

Culture/Community

Kakau (Solomon Islands)

Biography

Ake Lianga is a painter, sculptor, and muralist from the island of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Lianga was born in 1975 into a large family of carvers and weavers in the Kakau tribe. He learned how to carve as a small child, then taught himself to paint. After high school, he apprenticed for two years in Honiara. In 1995, Lianga won the South Pacific Contemporary Art Competition. A group exhibition followed in Sydney, then in 1996, he won a Commonwealth Arts and Crafts Award, and chose to study Western art at North Island College in Courtenay, British Columbia. In 2001, he married and settled in Victoria, BC. During regular trips to the Solomon Islands, he provides training and advice for emerging artists.