Images of Matariki
Wahine Toi, a group of female art students and graduates from Toimairangi School of Māori Visual Art (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa), have made mixed-media work exploring Māori female deities in cosmology. These deities include legends from te whānau marama (celestial bodies), Mangoroa (the Milky Way) and Matariki star cluster. Wahine Toi, Franklin Arts Centre, opens today.
Two senior artists feature in two Papakura Art Gallery shows. Toi Te Rito Maihi, a painter, printmaker, author and weaver, has designed architecturally-based works inspired by her knowledge of traditional Māori arts and patterning for Visual Language of Toi, while master carver Ted Ngataki leads a group of artists — Nuku Hawira, Merv Hohaia and Maaka Potini — in largescale carving project Toi Whakairo o Ngāti Tamaoho incorporating a range of styles from traditional to contemporary. Papakura Art Gallery, until Sunday, July 14.
Mana Wahine shows work by a group of female artists, across a range of disciplines, which explore how Māori women were an integral part of the suffrage movement. The exhibition acknowledges their strength, mana and power and is part of an Auckland Council regional programme to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Women’s Suffrage. Mana Wahine, Fresh Gallery Otara until July 21. In West Auckland, tangata whenua Te Kawerau a Maki present images of tīpuna (forebears) and taonga (treasures) to remember and celebrate heritage while working toward a better future. Visitors can learn about the rāhui in effect at the Waitakere Ranges and what we can do to help with the resurgence and renewal of kauri in our forests. Nga Tohu o Te Kawerau a Maki — The People, Their Stories and Treasures, Te Uru: Waitakere Contemporary Gallery, until August 26.
Native forest is also found in Forest has the Blues, where nine printmakers have collaborated on an installation to bring our unique flora into a gallery space. Using multiple printmaking techniques, they’ve created a large scale urban forest, along with some undesirable exotic species, to highlight the importance of caring for indigenous species. Meanwhile, work by artists Joanne Barrett, Robyn Gibson, Karen Browne, Richard Joughin, Sean McDonnell, Celia Walker, Jermaine Reihana, Don Binney and Howie Cook features in Whenua:
Land exploring the distinctive perceptions of and relationships to whenua (land) of artists both past and present. Forest has the Blues and Whenua: Land,
Depot Artspace; Saturday, July 14-Wednesday, July 25.