Nina Nawalowalo

Nina Catharine Nawalowalo was born in Wellington, New Zealand in the 1960s. Her mother was British and her father was Fijian,[1] from Kadvu, and Nawalowalo spent two and a half years living in Fiji before returning to Wellington. She attended Wellington Teacher's College, and was the captain of the under-20 basketball team.[2]

Nawalowalo was teaching primary school upon graduating Teacher's College but left to join Robert Bennett's company Mime International and toured including to Moscow and Poland. This was the beginning of an education in performing arts. Notable teachers Nina studied under are: Antonia Fava, Philippe Gaulier and Pierre Byland.[1]

Nawalowalo has worked as a theatre director since the 1980s. Creative partnerships were formed while she was living in London with magician Richard McDougall and illusion designer and magic consultant Paul Kieve.[2] She has presented at over forty international festivals, including the London International Mime Festival, British Festival of Visual Theatre, and the Moscow Arts Festival.[3]

In 2002 Nawalowalo co-founded the theatre company The Conch with Tom McCrory. Their productions focus on Pacific stories. The company is based in Wellington and had toured across New Zealand and internationally.[4][3] In 2013 the pair established the Solomon Islands National Women's Theatre Company Stages of Change with a focus on addressing violence against women and girls.[5] Nawalowalo's company provides and promotes access to the arts for Pacifika young people[6] through Conchus Youth.[7]

Nawalowalo received the Contemporary Pacific Art Award in 2007 and the Senior Pacific Artist Award in 2017 at the Arts Pasifika Awards.[9]

In the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to theatre and Pacific culture.[10]

• The Conch