Sam Hamilton
TE MOANA MERIDIAN: HOW THE PRIME MERIDIAN SHAPES THE WORLD AND THE CASE FOR RELOCATING IT
August 25 - October 18, 2025
USF St. Petersburg, Harbor Hall Gallery (HBR 136)
presented by GENERATOR: USF Contemporary Art Museum
Hours: Mon-Fri Noon-6pm; Sat Noon-4pm. Closed Sundays + USF Holidays (September 1).
Admission: Exhibition and events are free and open to the public.
Address: Harbor Hall, USF St. Petersburg - 1000 3rd St S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701 (Gallery entrance on South end of building)
Parking: Visitor parking is available in lot 9 (USFSP Parking Map), south of Harbor Hall. Accessible parking is available in both lot 9 (south lot) and lot 10 (north lot). Wheelchair accessible entrance is on the north side. USF parking permits or payment by ParkMobile smartphone app are required. On street parking is also available on adjacent streets.
Contact: For questions call (813) 974-4133, email caminfo@usf.edu. For all the latest and links to our social media, visit https://linktr.ee/irausf.
Sam Hamilton, Te Moana Meridian at Oregon Contemporary for Converve 45, 2023. Credit: Mario Gallucci.
Sam Hamilton/Sam Tam Ham (b. 1984, Auckland, New Zealand/Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa) created Te Moana Meridian as a vessel for proposing a radical new United Nations General Assembly Draft Resolution to formally relocate the prime meridian from Greenwich, London, to Te Moana-nui-ā-Kiwa/the South Pacific Ocean.
Since its inception at an 1884 conference in Washington D.C., the prime meridian has functioned to implicitly serve the colonial ambitions of a bygone empire. Today, rather than serving as a "beacon of humanity," the prime meridian increasingly resembles an imperial relic. Just as all roads once led to Rome, all time and space coordinates still point to London as the "center of the world."
Te Moana Meridian proposes to elect a new "center of the world" while acknowledging that doing so has the potential to reframe the dynamics of global power. Where should this new center be located? Te Moana Meridian proposes the open waters of Te Moana-nui-ā-Kiwa/the South Pacific Ocean.
As Hamilton says: the prime meridian should be "anchored in the global commons." Few domains materialize that like the ocean, which is connective, circulatory, omnipresent, and integral to all life. "To avoid drowning," Hamilton says, "we must become the ocean."
Sam Hamilton, Te Moana Meridian at Oregon Contemporary for Converve 45, 2023. Credit: Mario Gallucci.
An immersive operatic work designed as a five-channel video installation, Te Moana Meridian features an international cast of performers, artists and practitioners, including: Mere Tokorahi Boynton (Te Aitanga-a-M?haki, Ng?i T?hoe), Holland Andrews (NYC, USA), Dr. Tru Paraha (Ng?ti Hine?maru, Ng?ti Kahu o Torongare), Crystal Akins Meneses & The Lincoln City Children's Choir (Oregon, US), Clara Chon (Aotearoa/NYC), Rhonda Tibble (Ng?ti Porou, Te Wh?nau a Apanui, Ngati Kahungunu, Te Aitanga a Mahaki), British mother and daughter performance duo Deryl and Ruby Thatcher (UK), Alexa Stark (US) and others.
About Sam Hamilton/Sam Tam Ham
Sam Hamilton/Sam Tam Ham (B.1984, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand) is a working class, interdisciplinary artist based in Portland, OR. They have presented their work at the Converge 45 Triennial (Portland, OR), Whitechapel Gallery (London), Portland Art Museum (OR), Issue Project Room (NYC), ARTSPACE Aotearoa (Aotearoa), Locust Project (Miami), Transmediale (Berlin), Govett Brewster (Aotearoa), Plano B (Brazil) and more.
Te Moana Meridian is funded by the New Zealand Arts Council, Oregon Arts Commission, and The Ford Family Foundation, and supported by Activate Arts Now, Creative Capital, The N.M. Bodecker Foundation, The Speaker of the House of the New Zealand Parliament, The Portland Art Museum, The Audio Foundation, and many of Sam Hamilton/Sam Tam Ham's incredible friends.
Te Moana Meridian at GENERATOR is curated by Christian Viveros-Fauné and organized by USF Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa. GENERATOR: USFCAM and its programs are generously supported by the USF College of Design, Art & Performance, USF St. Petersburg, the Lee and Victor Leavengood Endowment, and the Kathleen Binnicker Swann Endowment.