Okaioceanikart

Okaioceanikart, commonly known as Okai, was a pan-Pacific commercial art gallery located in the Langham Hotel Mall on Karangahape Road in Auckland, New Zealand. Established in February 2007, it is widely regarded as the first dealer gallery in the world devoted exclusively to contemporary artists of the Pacific and Oceania. The gallery operated until 2013, playing a significant role in bringing Indigenous Pacific art into the commercial market and fostering connections between artists, diasporic communities, and collectors across the region.

The gallery was co-founded by Marilyn Kohlhase and Bridget Marsh in February 2007, following an invitation from Samoan artist Fatu Feu'u. Kohlhase had recently completed six years as Chair of the Creative New Zealand Pacific Arts Committee, while Marsh contributed business mentorship experience. The initiative emerged from Feu'u's recognition that Pacific visual artists needed dedicated commercial representation. The Karangahape Road Business Association facilitated the gallery's establishment in the Langham Hotel Mall. Kohlhase subsequently opened Okai@Reef Gallery with a similar mission. The gallery closed in 2013 after six years of operation. Kohlhase became known as the 'art lady' for her advocacy on behalf of Pacific artists.

Okaioceanikart's business model centered on representing Indigenous Pacific artists who could bring works to sell on their own terms. The gallery maintained a strong focus on Polynesian and Melanesian cultural heritages, distinguishing itself from conventional white-wall galleries through its innovative presentation format. Artworks were displayed on purpose-built canvas screens arranged like a book, enabling staff to narrate stories about the art, the artists, and their cultures. The gallery developed particular strength in Melanesian art, facilitated by connections made through Creative New Zealand. Monthly events called '28ths' served as exhibition openings, introducing Pacific curators, artists, and their works to buyers and supporters. From 2008, with support from Pacific Island Trade and Invest, some 28ths evolved into celebrations of national independence days, incorporating not only art but also Pacific products such as coffee, nuts, and packaged foods.

The gallery represented and exhibited a significant roster of Pacific artists including Fatu Feu'u, Dagmar Dyck, Leua Latai Leonard, Sylvia Marsters, Abraham Lagi, Daniel Waswas, Kopotama Jacobsen, Dan Taulapapa McMullin, Sekio Fuapopo, Brian Feni, and Sina Panama. In 2007, Daniel Waswas, a Papua New Guinean graduate of Elam School of Fine Arts, sent approximately 25 works by PNG artists for the gallery to sell; these attracted substantial sales and anchored several Melanesian exhibitions in Wellington. Te Papa Tongarewa subsequently purchased Waswas's 'Look within 2' for $19,000, a record for a Melanesian artwork at that time. The gallery hosted or participated in several historically significant exhibitions including 'Spirit of the People' (2009), curated by Giles Peterson at Corban Art Estate, which addressed diasporic communities from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. In 2009, Giles Peterson also curated 'RIP TIDES, CONTEMPORARY PACIFIC ART' for the Pacific Cooperation Foundation Brother International Pacific Wave Conference, featuring thirty artists from ten Pacific Island nations. The gallery supported Pasifikana, AK09 and Pasifikana, AK10, showcasing New Caledonian artists including Alexis Fisi'ipeau, Yvette Bouquet, and Paula Gony Boi, whose works addressed colonial influences. In 2013, PITI sponsored Solomon Islands artists Fred Oge and Brian Feni to participate in Auckland events, with Okai selling canvases to local and international buyers.

Okaioceanikart occupied space in the Langham Hotel Mall at 65 Karangahape Road, Auckland, with direct Karangahape Road frontage. The gallery rejected the conventional white-cube aesthetic in favor of purpose-built canvas screens that formed a book-like arrangement, creating an intimate environment for storytelling about the art and its cultural contexts. The Pasifikana, AK09 event utilized a large Langham Hotel function room for exhibitions and musical performances. The Karangahape Road location placed the gallery within one of Auckland's most culturally diverse and historically significant urban corridors, facilitating connections with the Pacific communities the gallery sought to serve.

Okaioceanikart was located at 65 Karangahape Road in Auckland's central city, accessible via the Langham Hotel Mall. As a commercial gallery, it operated as a dealer space where artists could bring works for sale, rather than as a public museum with permanent opening hours. The gallery was co-owned and operated by Marilyn Kohlhase and Bridget Marsh until its closure in 2013. During its six years of operation, it served as a crucial node in the Pacific art ecosystem, connecting artists from across Polynesia and Melanesia with collectors, institutions, and diasporic communities in New Zealand and Australia. Its closure in 2013 marked the end of a pioneering venture in Pacific art commercial representation, though its legacy continues through the artists it supported and the market infrastructure it helped establish for Indigenous Pacific contemporary art.