Saturday 24 June
1 - 2:30pm
free
The Gallery
Issac Te Awa, Stevei Houkāmau, Terence Turner (L- R)
Jamie Berry, Zena Elliot, Suzanne Tamaki (L-R)
This Matariki, the artists of the exhibition Te Matapihi pay homage to the life, death and rebirth guided by the atua Hine-nui-te-pō. Together their works are guided by the concepts of her life; from her beginning as the joyful dawn maiden, to the loving mother in the night who guides her children on to their next journey.
Join our panel of artists Stevei Houkāmau, Jamie Berry, Suzanne Tamaki, Issac Te Awa, Terence Turner, Zena Elliot and Moderator Andy Lowe as they delve into the darkness and the light.
Artist’s Biographies
Stevei Houkāmau
Stevei Houkāmau (Ngāti Porou, Te Whanau-a-Apanui) is an artist based in Te Whanganui-a-tara that works predominantly in Uku (Clay). Houkāmau journey with uku started in 2011 at Toihoukura in Te Tairawhiti. In 2021 Houkāmau decided to make the move into working as an artist in a full time capacity.
Houkāmau has been researching and developing the core kaupapa of her practice “Whakapapa” which examines the connections and relationships that move across time and space, and through form and design. Her practice is distinctive for its carved surface designs that draw upon Tā Moko and Tātau. Used to amplify the curvature of the vessels, these markings also act as a visual language encoded with knowledge, genealogy and connect with legacies of Māori making, migration from te Moana nui a kiwa, and kinship ties with Atua.
“My dream was always to be a tattoo artist. Today when I reflect on my practice I love that every day I get to Ta moko Papatuanuku”
Jamie Berry
Jamie Berry (Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki, Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Porou, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Ruanui)
Jamie is a Multidisciplinary Artist who creates work that examines Aotearoa histories while reflecting on her identity and place within the current timeline. Originally from Tūranganui-a-kiwa and residing in Pōneke. Jamie’s practice is based on my whakapapa, past, present and future focused. Reimagining these stories through digital content, DNA soundscape, moving images and installation. Jamie is currently a Digital Artist at CORE Digital/Tātai Aho Rau, and Visual Arts Lead for Kia Mau Festival.
Zena Elliott
Ko Pūtauaki tōkū maunga
Ko Rangitaiki tōkū awa
Ko Mataatua tōkū waka
Ko Ngāti Awa tōkū iwi
No Te Teko Teko O Iratumoana āhau. Ko Zena Elliott tōkū ingoa.
He kaiwhakairo, ā he tangata ringatoi āno hoki e āu
Zena Elliott is a Practice-led PhD candidate within Huri Te Ao, the School of Future Environments at the Auckland University of Technology, Aotearoa, New Zealand. Elliott’s cultural practice is a majestic voyage through rediscovery, reclamation, reinvigorating, and reimagining Elliott’s intergenerational traditional indigenous knowledge through te toi whakairo. Elliott draws inspiration from whānau cosmological knowledge and whakapapa. Honouring the past and respecting the present while taking responsibility for the future are key drivers towards transformation within Elliott’s whanau.
The intersections between cultural identity, gender, taonga, Māori architecture, indigenous knowledge, cultural sustainability, resilience, and the mātauranga Māori continuum play a vital role in shaping the outcomes of the rangahau. Elliott utilizes a reo-toru approach when creating and defining the concepts relating to their taonga. The use of reo Māori, reo Pākehā and reo Toi functions as a growing repository for whanau mātauranga Māori. The rangahau acknowledges the importance of mauri and wairuatanga in construction methods, imagery, and natural and contemporary materials. Embodied structural symbolic representations of indigenous knowledge and collective wisdom serve to stimulate conversation and inspiration that ignites transformation for the benefit of future generations.
Elliott’s exhibiting taonga titled “The Soundless Vibration of Colour” 2023 explores creative interpretations of cosmological intelligence that embody our whakapapa connection to the universe. The taonga is a small component of a larger body of work that encapsulates concepts, material, and genealogical sequences, elucidating the parts and growth of a tree, forests, and the origin of sound right through time and space to modern-day Māori.
Elliott was raised in the small rural town of Te Teko in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Elliott is the Kaiwhakahaere, Kairangahau, and Pouako Toi for The Sleepout Project. Over the past thirty years, Elliott has developed a particular carved painting style through a unique worldview that stimulates discussion about gender, fluidity, visibility, indigenous identity, and our whakapapa relationship to natural phenomena
Te Matapihi
24 June - 21 July
Curated by Stevei Houkāmau, Te Matapihi is an exhibition concept that brings together a diverse group of Māori artists. Originating from a range of backgrounds and artforms, this group of established makers have dedicated themselves to working outside of the box, exploring the full spectrum of Māori creativity and practice from the historic to the contemporary. Te Matapihi or “The Window” offers a view and invites you to explore the beauty and diversity of Māori art and practice through the eyes of a talented group of makers.
Suzanne Tamaki
Suzanne Tamaki (Maniapoto, Tuhoe) is an artist and social provocateur who uses fashion and photography to create visual narratives that respond to cultural-politics in Aotearoa New Zealand. Her works often investigate the nature of indigenous feminisms in the South Pacific, challenging the colonial gaze and Western ideas of nationhood within a bi-cultural nation.
As an individual artist and as a member of Pacific Sisters and the SaVAge K’lub art collectives, Tamaki has exhibited works extensively throughout Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally, with exhibitions at The National Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (2018), Sharman Gallery Winnipeg (2017), The Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (APT8, Brisbane, Australia, 2016), Expressions Arts Centre (Upper Hutt, 2015), City Gallery Wellington (2011), the British Museum (England, 2008), the University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (England, 2005) and the Dowse Art Museum (2004).
Terence Turner
Terence Turner has always made things; using object and physical form as a language to communicate stories. Tere enjoys the capacity of certain objects to speak for themselves, via medium, form, and personal reference; and to hold their own place in time and culture.
Tere has a particular interest in the matau/fish hook form, in particular the gill hook an example of indigenous knowledge. The gill hook is seen today as the pinnacle of fishing innovation and is a form that Maori had been using since before European contact.
In his work with pounamu, Terence seeks to explore the fluid importance of the stone. The diverse and changing tikanga and oral traditions around the stone, as well as the stories behind each piece of rock, give it a life of its own that can be honoured and reflected in his carving.
Terence has been working as a professional sculptor within the film and conceptual arts industry for fifteen years. He was Highly Commended in the New Zealand Jade Artists’ Society biennial carving competition in 2014. In 2015 he was invited by the Suzhou City Jade Carving Association to exhibit at the Zi Gang Bei exhibition in Suzhou, China, and was awarded a bronze medal. Tere lives and works between in Tāmaki Makaurau and Te-Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa, carving jade and other materials sourced both locally and internationally.
Isaac Te Awa
Isaac Te Awa (Ngāpuhi, Kāti Māmoe, Kai Tahu, Waitaha)
Isaac has diverse interests across te ao Māori, with a passion for reconnecting taonga to their people, places, and communities. He works as a curator at ‘Te Papa’ by day, but in his spare time he is an active practitioner of both Māori weaving and carving, with a special interest in the revival and documentation of traditional knowledge, techniques, and their practice. As a child, Isaac was privileged to learn weaving at the feet of his koro, and as an adult he has been taught and mentored by a wide range of teachers and life experiences that have enabled him to make the taonga he creates today.
