First Place — Prize of $1,000
Api II — Giovanni Siasau (Year 13) Liston College

Api / Home II is a personal reflection on what home means when living between cultures. The work brings together embroidery, tapa cloth, traditional lashing, the scent of coconut oil, music, and moving image to explore how home can be experienced through memory, sound, smell, and touch. Sometimes home is a place; other times it’s a voice, a story, or the warmth of something familiar.

“‘Api” is the Tongan word for home, grounded in ideas of belonging and responsibility. The “II” acknowledges that this journey is ongoing—constantly shifting, evolving, and asking us to reflect on what home truly is.