Ake Lianga (born 1975 on Guadalcanal) is a Solomon Islands screen printer[1] and painter, who has "gained recognition for paintings and murals throughout Oceania".[2]
After schooling, Lianga became self-employed as a sign painter and mural artist. In 1995, he won the South Pacific Contemporary Art Competition.[3]
In 1996, he won the Commonwealth Arts and Crafts award for painting,[4] and began studying at North Island College in Canada. He graduated in Fine Arts in 1999.[5] During his final semester, he was hired by the College to teach printmaking to first year students.[3] He married in 2001[5] and, as of 2007, lives in Canada.[6]
His work was exhibited at the Comox Valley Art Gallery in 1998, at the Alcheringa Gallery in 2001,[5] and at the Washington State University's Department of Fine Arts in 2007.[7][8] Lianga's art has also been featured on the cover of the autumn 2004 edition of The Contemporary Pacific.[5] In 2010, Alcheringa Gallery set up "Pacific Connections, a cross-cultural collaboration featuring Ake Lianga [...] and John Marston, a Coast Salish carver from the Chemainus First Nation".[2]
Carol Ivory, chair of the Department of Fine Arts at Washington State University, has described Lianga's work as follows:
Lianga looks both backwards and forwards, bringing mythology, history and the contemporary world together in riveting works of art. [...] Lianga's artwork often engages with significant issues arising from post-colonial situations, creating works that can be described as both visually appealing and emotionally powerful.[6][7]
Lianga was a guest speaker at the university in 2007.[9]