Jade Townsend (Ngāti Kahungungu, Te Ātihaunui-a-Pāpārangi) He tāraitanga nui e hora nei i te puna waihanga a Townsend. E iwa ngā hua kua puta nā tōna whainga i te Maramataka, i ngā toikupu Māori, waihoki, i ngā mahi toi o nehe rā. Ko ia tāraitanga tetahi mata o Te Kore. He tohu mā tātou kia aro whakaroto, kia rukuhia ki tō ake māramatanga o ngā mata o Mata-ariki.
Ka puta mai i ngā tāraitanga i a rātou e wānangatia ana Ko Townsend, Ko Tyrone Ohia (Ngāti Pūkenga, Ngāi te Rangi) Ko Riki Gooch (Ngaati Wai, Patuharakeke, Ngāti Mahanga). Nā Ohia rāua ko Gooch i whakamārama ai i ō rāua ake whakaaro e pā ana ki ngā whetū o Matariki, waihoki, ki ngā anamata whānui o ngā iwi taketake. Ka wānangahia e rātou te pōuriuri, te pōtangotango hei rongo kakara, hei rongo tāwara, hei rongo whakapā i ngā whetū. Nā te rukuruku whakaaro kia tohaina i ngā anamata ki te ao marama nei.
Townsend he ringatoi, he kaipaki e mahi ana i te pūtahi o tōna whakapapa Māori, i tōna whakapapa Ingarihi. E ai ki a ia ko tōna tuakiri he “non-fixed duality that moves within the ebbs and flows of contradictory cultural forces”. I whānau mai a ia i Whanganui, katahi, ka hūnuku ki Liverpool, United Kingdom. I reira ia i whakatipu ana i roto i tetahi ahurea ake. Nā ngā reo motuhake, nā ngā pūrakau, nā ngā pakiwaitara kia marake ōna tirohanga i te kōpiri o te whakamāoritanga. Ko tōna whainga matua kia hangaia ai te mahitoi ki te ao tōrangapū me te ao hāpori hei mihia ki ngā rerekētanga o ngā ahurea.
Tyrone Ohia (Ngāti Pūkenga, Ngāi te Rangi) he kaihoahoa a Ohia, i whiwhi paraihe mō tōna mahi toi. Nānā i hanga te tohu o Whānau Mārama nā tōna ake tirohanga o ngā Tāraitanga a Townsend. He kaiārahi a Ohia i te ao Visual Communications, Nānā i whakairotia he ara hou ki ngā tangata Māori o nāianei. Ka mahia e Ohia ngā pūkenga maha i te ao mahi toi. Nānā hoki i hanga te kamupene Extended Whānau.
Jade Townsend (Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Ātihaunui-a-Pāpārangi), presents a major sculptural commission. Following the Maramataka and reading Māori poetry, Townsend has produced nine sculptures in response to early illustrations of whetū by Māori. Each sculpture has a portal, an ‘empty’ space representing Te Kore (the place of infinite potential). Clues are left in this space, to help the viewer discover, for themselves, the names of each star.
These sculptures were made through conversations with Tyrone Ohia (Ngāti Pūkenga, Ngāi te Rangi) and Riki Gooch (Ngaati Wai, Patuharakeke, Ngāti Mahanga). Ohia and Gooch, each offered their own interpretation and understanding of Matariki, whetū and Indigenous Futurisms. Learning in darkness, they sought what Māori whetū look, feel, move and sound like. Representing a multitude of approaches, their combined perspectives, seek to create signs or motifs that represent the future.
Townsend is a visual artist and storyteller working at the intersection of her Māori and British heritage. She describes her identity as a “non-fixed duality that moves within the ebbs and flows of contradictory cultural forces”. She was born and raised in Whanganui before moving to Liverpool, United Kingdom where she spent her teenage years. Townsend’s exposure to a wide range of accents, dialects, regional slang, folktale and pūrākau made her aware of the limitations of translation. Townsend is interested in creating politically and socially minded art objects that speak to local concerns and aspirations whilst acknowledging the complex nature of cultural hybridity.
Tyrone Ohia is an award-winning designer and developed the graphic identity for Whānau Mārama in response to Townsend’s sculptures. Ohia is a leader in the visual communications space, carving out new pathways for contemporary Māori storytelling. Ohia works across a range of industries, from printed publications to public space design, operating through his company called Extended Whānau.
Riki Gooch (Ngaati Wai, Patuharakeke, Ngaati Mahanga) I hangaia Tino atu nei ngaa whetuu e Gooch, he pūngao oro i te ngao o Commercial Bay. E ai ki te whakaaro a Gooch ko ia whiti he kīanga, he mea e rewa ana i te pae o te wā, ehara i te mea here ki ngā hā puoro anakē. Ko Tino atu nei ngaa whetuu he whakaaturanga ki te wā e tūhonohono ana tātou i a tātou, tātou ki taiao e.
He tangata rongonui a Riki Gooch i roto i te ao Pūoro Waiata nei. Nāna i hanga ngā kōpae pūoro e whitu, arā Ko Noa Records, Buzzypoint, Secret Angels, me iiii Records. I riro i a ia te paraihe 2020 Wellington International Jazz Festival. Nōna hoki i ngā pēne Cave Circles, Eru Dangerspiel me Trinity Roots i ārahi. Kei te whai ia tōna tohu Kairangi i te Whare Wānanga o Otākou, kei reira ia i rukuhia ki ngā pūtake oro kia puta mai i te matapuna o ngā iwi taketake.
Riki Gooch (Ngaati Wai, Patuharakeke, Ngaati Mahanga), has created Tino atu nei nga whetu, an hour-long soundscape attuned and responsive to the spatial dynamic of Commercial Bay. The work is made up of a series of musical events, which Gooch refers to as ‘phrases’. These phrases are determined by time rather than pure musical law. Tino atu nei nga whetu is a musical response to time-as-measurement and its relationship with nature.
Riki Gooch released seven albums in 2020 across multiple imprints including; Noa Records, Buzzypoint, Secret Angels, and iiii Records. Gooch won the 2020 Wellington International Jazz Festival commission. His acclaimed back-catalogue includes Cave Circles, Eru Dangerspiel and Trinity Roots. He is currently undertaking a PhD from the University of Otago, where he is developing a conducting lexicon centred in Indigenous musical approaches and spontaneous composition.
Graham Tipene (Ngāti Whātua) he tohunga mahi toi a Tipene. Nāna hoki i te kaihautu o Maharatia. I ngā rā o mua he wāhi tāhanga, ināianei he wāhi kia mahia ai e te hunga kaitā, e te hunga kairaranga hei pūpuritia ki ngā taonga tuku iho. Ka tono atu a Tipene ki ngā kaitā, ki ngā kaitoi kia huihui mai rātou kei roto i te whakaaturanga o Whānau Mārama. Ko ngā ringatoi e huihui mai nei arā Ko Mokonui-a-rangi Smith (Te Arawa, Tainui, Takitimu, Horouta), Matt Tamaariki (Ngāti Whātua, Rarotonga), Jordan Clarke (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Hamoa), Katz Maihi (Ngāti Whātua), Te Puawai Weavers, Hana Maihi (Ngāti Whātua). E āhei ana te hunga mātakitaki ki te kuhu ki roto i te wāhi o Maharatia, kia ā te tītiro, kia whakaputa pātai, kia whakawhiti kōrero hei ako ai i ngā hītori o Ngāti Whātua.
Graham Tipene (Ngāti Whātua) is artist-in-residence and kaihautu for Maharatia, a once empty shop space, now dedicated to the practice of moko and weaving. For the duration of Whānau Mārama, Tipene has invited artists and practitioners to hold the space each day from 10am-4pm. Maharatia, translates to ‘remembrance’. The public are welcome to come inside and observe the practices, ask questions and learn about Ngāti Whātua history. Artists include: Mokonui-a-rangi Smith (Te Arawa, Tainui, Takitimu and Horouta), practising Taa Moko Uhi; Matt Tamaariki (Ngāti Whatua, Rarotonga), Jordan Clarke (Ngāti Whatua, Ngāti Hamoa), Katz Maihi (Ngāti Whatua) practising Taa Moko with Machine; Te Puawai Weavers; Beronia Scott doing traditional weaving and Hana Maihi (Ngāti Whātua), practising Kowhaiwhai and hosting Maramataka wānanga.
Inspiration Group (Rongomaiwahine) he ropū hei mahia ai i ngā mahi rerekē kia whakaaro anamata i te ao pēhi nei. Ka wānangahia rātou e te ahurea Māori, ki ngā mea kia herea ai te tangata ki te kino o te tāmitanga. I hanga rātou ētahi tuhinga mō te kaupapa o Whānau Mārama e whakairi nei i ngā matapihi o Ecoya, Barkers me Just Another Fisherman.
Inspiration Group (Rongomaiwahine) is an anonymous art collective who employ renegade methodologies and tactics. Often working with digital text and painting strategies in the realm of shareable infographics and ‘social commentary’, Inspiration Group unpack Māori identity, social inequity, and the ongoing effects of colonisation. For Whānau Mārama they have produced a series of text-works presented on the windows of Ecoya, Barkers and Just Another Fisherman.
Lissy (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Kahu) rāua Ko Rudi Robinson-Cole (Ngāruahine, Ngāti Tū, Ngāti Paoa, Waikato) Nā te hononga i waenganui i a rāua ka whakarakei i o rāua mahi raranga o nāianei. Ko ngā mahi rāranga o nāinei he tohu o te whiringa o te hononga ki te aroha. He tohu hoki hei piatata mai ana i te wairua. E tū ana te Pōhutukawa kei mua i te matapihi o te International Luxury Brand Kate Spade. Ko Pōhutukawa te whetū tārake hei haumarutia ai i ngā tīpuna kua wehe atu ki te pō. Ko Hiwaiterangi te whetū tārake hei kohikohia i ngā wāwata mā tātou kia anga whakamua.
Lissy (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Kahu) and Rudi Robinson-Cole (Ngāruahine, Ngāti Tu, Ngāti Paoa, Waikato) are a husband and wife duo who bring joy and wonder through their sculptural crochet art. In the front window of the international luxury brand Kate Spade stand Pōhutukawa - the star we call the names of our dead to and Hiwaiterangi - the star we send our wishes, hopes and dreams to. They represent our past and our future. Lissy and Rudi’s playful hand-made interventions employ colour, pattern and form to represent connection and aroha. The interlocking of crochet symbolises their vibrant wairua (spirit).
Nikau Hindin (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngai Tūpoto) ka mahitahi rāua ko Jessie Wong hei whakarauora i te toi Māori Aute: the ancestral practice of beaten barkcloth. Nā Hindin i arotahi ki te Māramataka i roto i tōna mahi Aute. He tatai aorangi i ngā mata o ōna mahi Aute mai i te kokowai i te Kurawaka. He mahi toi hei whakaaturanga i te whitinga mai o ngā kāhui whetū, otirā ki te tōnga o ngā kāhui whetū. Ko tetahi o ōna whainga kia hā whakaroto ki tō ake tūranga, waihoki, ki ngā ahurea motuhake o te ao tūroa nei.
Nikau Hindin (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngai Tūpoto), collaborates with Yu Mei. Hindin’s practice explores the revival of Māori aute: the ancestral practice of beaten barkcloth. She centres Māori systems of time in her work, painting star maps upon the aute with Kōkōwai-red earth, depicting the position of stars as they rise and set. Her concern with positionality extends beyond the sky; to the importance of locating oneself in time and space, and within the socio-political landscape.
Hana Pera Aoake (Ngaati Mahuta, Ngaati Hinerangi me Ngaati Raukawa, Tainui/Waikato, Ngaati Waewae, Kaati Mamoe, Waitaha) ka mahitahi rāua ko Wynn Hamlyn, ahakoa kei Tāmaki Mākaurau a Aoake e noho ana, kei Ōtepoti a Hamlyn e noho ana. Ka whai hononga rāua i runga i te ipurangi, ā, ka puta mai tetahi mahi tuituia. Mai i tō rāua nei rangahoua ka arohia ki ngā wāhanga o te orokohanga; ki te oranga me te matenga; ki te pūmahara; ki te whānautanga mai, otirā ki te wā hei whakanuia ai e te tangata. Tirohia atu ki o rāua mai toi i te matapihi o Wynn Hamlyn.
Hana Pera Aoake (Ngaati Mahuta, Ngaati Hinerangi me Ngaati Raukawa, Tainui/Waikato, Ngaati Waewae, Kaati Mamoe, Waitaha), collaborates with Wynn Hamlyn. The two creatives live on separate islands - Wynn based in Tāmaki Makaurau and Hana in Ōtepoti. Their process has included email, google docs and zoom hui, culminating in a final sewing gathering. The themes within their research have included concepts of new beginnings, the cycle of life and death, remembrance, fertility and celebration. Find their joint art object on display in the store window of Wynn Hamlyn.
Emily Karaka (Waikato, Ngāpuhi, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Te Kawerau ā Maki, Ngāti Tamaoho, Te Ākitai Waiohua, Te Ahi Waru, Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Tahinga, Ngāti Hine) He mahi toi tōna i te wāhi o Wyn Hamlin. Ko ōna mahi toi he haerenga roa ki ngā take o te ao tūroa nei. Ko ngā mea pārekareka hei whakanuia i te tangata, waihoki, ko ngā mea taumaha hei whakapēhi i te tangata. He kaiārahi ia ki ngā ringatoi e whai ake nei i ōna tapuwae. I whakairi ake ētahi o ōna mahi toi ki te whakaaturanga Toi Tū Toi Ora. He whakaaturanga nui ki tā ngā ringatoi ahurea.
Emily Karaka (Waikato, Ngāpuhi, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Te Kawerau ā Maki, Ngāti Tamaoho, Te Ākitai Waiohua, Te Ahi Waru, Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Tahinga, Ngāti Hine), has a painting on display in Wynn Hamlyn. Paintings by Karaka traverse the political and the personal, celebrating the joys of family, as well as historic and contemporary political issues. Emily has been one of Aotearoa ’s most cutting edge painters for over 30 years. This was recognised in her dominant presence in Toi Tu Toi Ora (Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki): the biggest contemporary Māori art exhibition in history.
Angela Morton Room (Te Pātaka Toi Art) Ka horahia i ngā pukapuka motuhake mā tātou e hiahia ana ki te pānuitia. I te tau 1985 ka whakatūria e te whānau a Angela Morgan tēnei wāhi motuhake mā tātou. Atu i te 1800 pukapuka i te whare pukapuka o Takapuna arā, ko ngā pukapuka e pā ana ki ngā mahi toi. He wāhi whakahirahira ki ngā ringatoi Māori, otirā ki ngā hunga e ngākau nui ana ki te mahi ringatoi.
Angela Morton Room, pukapuka collection in the cabinets. A selection of Māori art books from the Angela Morton Room Te Pātaka Toi Art Library can be enjoyed here in a very special and rare public display.
Takapuna Library’s Angela Morton Room, Te Pātaka Toi, was founded in 1985 with a bequest from the family of Angela Morton, and has grown into a well-resourced art library for artists and makers, students, researchers and art lovers. There are around 1800 pukapuka on painting and painters alone, plus a large range of specialist books on photography, carving, ceramics, textiles, printmaking, sculpture, installation art, tattoo and book arts.
Arielle Walker (Taranaki, Ngāruahine, Ngāpuhi, Pākehā) he kaituhi, he kaihanga a Walker e mahi ana ki Tāmaki Mākarau. Katahi ano ia kia oti tōna Tohu paerua i AUT. Nā te puna kōrero o ngā pūrākau me ngā pakiwaitara ka whai ia te pūtahitanga o te whenua ki te reo rangatira, otirā ki ngā momo mahi toi.
Emily Parr (Ngāi Te Rangi, Moana, Pākehā) he ringatoi a Parr e mahi ana ki Tāmaki Mākaurau. Ka whiriwhiria i ngā pakiwaitara i ngā whakaahua rorohiko ki te taha tangata, ki te ngā mata o te tōrangapū, ki te whenua, otirā ki ngā tai moana. Kei te rangahoua a Parr i ngā kōrero o nehe rā e pā ana ki ngā tīpuna i whakatere waka ki Aotearoa nei.
Nā te mahitahi a Walker rāua ko Parr e horahia ana i te whakaaturanga Tōu tauira me tōu Kaiako hoki. E rua ngā wāhi e takahia ana a rāua i o rāua nei whakaaturanga. Kei Twenty-Seven Names ētahi toikupu e whakairi ana i ngā patū me ngā pūeru i ngā matapihi. Kei Harker Herbals te toi kiriata e whakaatu nei me ētahi rongoā Māori hei mahara i te oranga o Papatūānuku. He whakaaturanga mā rāua kia ruku hōhonu rāua i a rāua anō, otirā i ō rāua ake hononga ki a Papatūānuku.
Arielle Walker (Taranaki, Ngāruahine, Ngāpuhi, Pākehā), and Emily Parr (Ngāi Te Rangi, Moana, Pākehā), at Twenty-Seven Names and Harker Herbals.
Walker is a Tāmaki Makaurau-based artist, writer and maker. Having recently completed a Master of Visual Arts at AUT University, her practice seeks pathways towards reciprocal belonging through the intersections of land, language, and craft, focusing on tactile storytelling and ancestral narratives.
Parr is an artist also living in Tāmaki Makaurau. Weaving stories with moving-images, her practice explores relationships between people, political frameworks, whenua and moana. Her current research on settler-Indigenous relationships of Te Moananui-a-Kiwa traverses oceans and centuries, seeking stories in archives and waters on haerenga (journey) to ancestral homelands.
Maia Robin McDonald (Te Ati Awa) He kaimahi uku, he kaituhi, he kaiārahi hoki a McDonald e mahi ana i te maru o Taranaki maunga. Ko te mahi uku i whakaputa i ōna puna waihanga matua. I akona e ia ki te taha a Wi Taepa, he tohunga uku a ia. Ka whakatinanahia e McDonald tōna ake whakapapa ki a Papatūānuku kei roto i tōna mahi uku. He whakaaturanga ake a McDonald i roto i ngā wāhi huri noa i te motu nei. Kei te toa Aotea ōna mahi toi e whakaaturangi nei.
Tama Toki (Ngāti Wai, Ngāpuhi) Nōna i hanga te ngao o Aotea. Ka whai hononga rāua ko McDonald i roto i ngā puna waihanga. He hononga nui hei whakanuia i ngā mātauranga o ngā iwi taketake. Pēra ki ō rāua nei hononga ki a Papatūānuku.
Maia Robin McDonald (Te Ati Awa), responds to the Aotea store through clay sculptures. Tama Toki (Ngāti Wai, Ngāpuhi), founder of Aotea and Mcdonald share common rituals and an on-going commitment to Indigenous knowledge sharing through their relationship to Papatūānuku (Mother Earth). The store’s elegant textures and raw palette become a natural exhibition site for an incredible grouping of McDonald’s taonga.
A cross-disciplinary artist, writer and curator, living and working in Taranaki, McDonald works primarily with clay and has studied under Māori master uku artist, Wi Taepa. McDonald’s work explores her relationship with whakapapa and Papatūānuku. Her work is held in numerous public and private collections across Aotearoa.
Arapeta (mononymous) (Ngāti Whanaunga, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Te Wehi, Ngāti Kahu, Ngā Puhi, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Porou) he ringa toi takatāpui a Arapeta. Kei te whai tetahi tohu kairangi ia i Elam School of Fine Arts. Ka rangahoua i te hononga auahtanga matahiko ki te whakarauora mātauranga pūweru Māori. He whakaaturanga a Arapeta ki Aotearoa, ki tāwahi hoki. Tirohia atu ki ōna hopu whakaahua kei ngā pouaka whakaata ki Commercial Bay, otirā kei ngā pae pāpāho o Whānau Mārama.
Arapeta (mononymous) is a takatāpui artist of Ngāti Whanaunga, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Te Wehi, Ngāti Kahu, Ngā Puhi, Te Rarawa, and Ngāti Porou tribal decent. Arapeta is currently a doctoral candidate at the Elam School of Fine Arts researching the relationship between digital innovation and the revival of Māori cloth making traditions. Arapeta has exhibited across Aotearoa New Zealand and actively engages with museum collections locally and internationally. Look for Arapeta’s photography campaign on Commerical Bay’s screens as well as Whānau Mārama’s social media platform.
Sam Bailey (Ngāti Porou ki Harataunga, Ngāti Huarere) Kei roto i te kaupapa o Whānau Mārama ka whakautu noa a Bailey ki ngā wāhi o Commercial Bay. Ka mahitahi a ia ko tōna whānau ki te hanga kowhaiwhai e tūhono ana ki tōna whakapapa. Ka arotahinga e Bailey te whakawhānaungatanga. E ai ki a ia kāore he painga atu i te whakatinanatanga. Mā tātou e hanga te mahi toi, mā Bailey e kohikohi i ngā akoranga kia puta. Mā te tika me te pono ka taea e tātou te tirohia whānui ki ngā tohu o te tāone hei whakakotahi ai.
Sam Bailey (Ngāti Porou Ki Harataunga, Ngāti Huarere), is known for their social and political practice. For Whānau Mārama, Bailey responds to specific sites within Commercial Bay, drawing kowhawhai and whakapapa with the help of his whānau. Bailey’s process focuses on actualising whanaungatanga (collective consciousness), by making art as a group. Drawing on a practice centred around people, Bailey’s work aims to cement notions of tika and pono in physical space; to broaden the ways in which their whānau can access and respond to the city.
Guardian Maia. Maru Nihoniho (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngāi Tahu) Nā te puna waihanga a Nihoniho tēnei whakaaturanga e puta mai. He kemu matahiko kia whai hononga i ngā pūrakau Māori, i ngā ahurea Māori hei aro ki te matapuna, arā ko te tuakiri o te tangata. He kaiārahi a Nihoniho o te kamupene Metia Interactive. Ka hangaia e Nihoniho tetahi whakaaturanga kei te toa a Spark.
Guardian Maia is presented at Spark. Guardian Maia is an interactive fictional digital experience that draws on Māori mythology and culture to demonstrate the universal human need to belong and understand the mysteries of the world. Guardian Maia was created by Maru Nihoniho (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngāi Tahu), CEO of game development studio Metia Interactive. Nihoniho has created a captivating in-store VR experience for Spark’s large screen where you can learn more about the Matariki star meanings.
Maia Mariner (Ngāi Tai, Ngāti Koata) i a ia e 13 ōna tau ka hangaia a Mariner i te kaupapa Lazy Sneakers i tōna kitenga ki ngā tangata tē taea te tākaro hākinakina nā te kore hū. Ka taea te tangata ki te tākohangia i ngā hū ki Lazy Sneakers mā ngā tangata rawakore. He kaupapa hei whakamana i te tangata rawakore e hiahia ana ki te whai atu i ōna anamata. Mauria mai i ngā hū ka tākohangia tātou e rātou.
Maia Mariner (Ngāi Tai and Ngāti Koata), began Lazy Sneakers when she was 13 after noticing that some of her peers could not participate in sports because they didn’t have the appropriate footwear. Lazy Sneakers is a sneaker bank project collecting sneakers in good condition from the community and then distributing these sneakers for free, so people can play, participate and reach their potential. SOLECT welcomes your donations in-store. Bring in your barely worn sneakers and donate them for people in need.
Moana Fresh Nā te puna waihanga a Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho (Tūhoe, Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata, Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Kahungungu, Fale’ula) i hangaia e ia ngā tīhati kei te toa Kōkako. Ko te whakaaturanga nei e tautokohia i ngā iwi taketake Tangata Whenua stands with Black Lives Matter. Ka tākohangia e Kopeke-Te Aho ngā pūtea katoa i utuina i te kaupapa nei. E ai ki tōna whakamāramatanga: “[this design] represents shared whakapapa in our struggles for liberation and referencing the fact that Māori and Polynesian communities have always drawn inspiration from Black liberation movements”.
Kei Avondale a Moana Fresh e horahia i te mahi toi o ngā tangata Māori me ngā tangata Pasifika. Ko te whāinga matua ka tautokongia, ka whakatenatena te puna waihanga o ngā ringa toi Māori me ngā ringa toi Pasifika kia ngāwari ake te mahi mā ngā tangata e hiahia ana ki te hokona ēra momo mahi toi.
Moana Fresh exhibition of t-shirts at KŌKAKO. The display includes Tangata Whenua stands with Black Lives Matter, a fundraising t-shirt where 100% of the proceeds go to the Black Lives Matter Movement. Designed by Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho (Tūhoe, Ngāti Porou, Rongowhaata, Te āti Haunui-a Pāpārangi, Ngāti Kahungunu, Fale’ula), describes the design as: “representing shared whakapapa in our struggles for liberation and referencing the fact that Māori and Polynesian communities have always drawn inspiration from Black liberation movements.”
Moana Fresh is a store in Avondale that stocks over 20 Māori and Pacific artists. The store aims to make collecting and supporting local art and artists affordable and accessible.
Kereama Taepa (Te Arawa, Te Āti Awa) Ko Mauri Oho te whakaaturanga nōna i horahia nei ki The Gentry. He kaupapa matua tōna kia arotake ki te ao hangarau me te ao matihiko, ā, ka whai hononga ki te ao Māori. Ka tītiro iho ki ngā mahi toi matahiko e hangaia ai ki te auahatanga. He hei tiki i whakaaturanga i te ngākaupai me te ngākaukino.
E ai ki te kōrero a Taepa ko Whekehiko te āhuatanga o ēnei mahi toi. He kupu whakarite nōna i hanga ki tōna ake whakaaro o te ao matahiko ki tetahi āhuatanga o te Wheke.
Kereama Taepa (Te Arawa, Te Āti Awa) is presented at The Gentry. Titled Mauri Oho, this selection of work explores an ongoing concern of Taepa’s, to engage with digital space and technology through Te ao Māori. His exploration of the whakapapa of innovation is seen here through digital prints that depict hei tiki as both negative and positive forms.
Taepa terms the works from this series as whekehiko, translating to the ‘electric octopus’. Taepa has coined this kupu hou (new word/term) to describe the digital printing process and its relationship with the octopus’ ink and its ability to camouflage with its surrounding environments.
