NINE prominent artists from New Zealand visited Nuku'alofa after a voyage exploring the Kermadec Islands, documenting the unique natural wildlife there in order to raise public awareness.

Named "Artists on a Voyage" the group who travelled onboard the HMNZS Otago departed New Zealand on May 10 for the Kermadecs in a project initiated by the PEW Environment Global Ocean Legacy Program aimed to promote, protect and raise awareness of the natural wildlife and marine reserves at Kermadec Islands, one of the world's greatest natural wildernesses but the least known.

The artists are preparing to display their Kermadecs work in November at the Tauranga Art Gallery in New Zealand.

Tonga

On May 17 in Nuku'alofa, the visiting artists including Niuean-born John Pule, painter John Reynolds, leading Australian sculptor Fiona Hall, Wellington-based sculptor Elizabeth Thomson, painter Robin White, sculptor Phil Dadson, photographer Jason O'Hara, writer-artist Gregory O'Brien and documentary filmmaker Bruce Foster, talked about their individual work at a reception held by the New Zealand High Commission.

Bronwen Golder, the Director of the Kermadec Initiative of PEW Environment Group said it was their aim that the artists voyage to the Kermadec would raise more public awareness on the uniqueness of the region and the need to protect its natural and marine wildlife.

"Through the eyes and work of these artists we will celebrate the Kermadecs as one of the greatest remaining natural wilderness areas on the planet," she said.

The Kermadec Islands is a sub-tropical arc in the South Pacific Ocean around 1,000 km northeast of New Zealand's North Island and part of its Exclusive Economic Zone.

There are four main islands in the group and only one, Raoul Island, is inhabited. The artists spent two days there during their voyage, before arriving in Nuku'alofa on May 16.

The artists also donated a range of books on poetry, painting and sculpture to Tonga's Institute of Education library.