Rex Homan was born 1940 in Thames, New Zealand of Māori, Irish and Scottish ancestry. He lived in Auckland in his early years before moving to the Bay of Plenty. Rex has earned international recognition as a wood sculptor in the 1960s and 1970s and began working in bronze in the 1980s. His current work is influenced by the culture of the Pacific and displays uniqueness in its diversity of form and dramatic flow of lines. Rex has exhibited in solo, group and jury shows. He has won several national awards for “National Wood Skills” and is represented in corporate and private collections worldwide.
HIRIA ANDERSON RUSS FLATT STAR GOSSAGE BRETT GRAHAM AYESHA GREEN (courtesy Jhana Millers Gallery) NIKAU HINDIN PĀNiA! (courtesy Mokopōpaki) FIONA PARDINGTON (courtesy Starkwhite)
Director Tim Melville explains the genesis of the gallery’s 2020 opening exhibition, Release the Stars.
“When photographer Dr Fiona Pardington (Ngai Tahu, Kati Mamoe, Ngati Kahungunu, Clan Cameron of Erracht) selected Ayesha Green’s painting Nana’s Birthday (A Big Breath) as the winner of the 2019 Waikato Contemporary Art Award I had a reaction to the artwork that caught me by surprise.
Nana’s Birthday (A Big Breath) showed mokopuna with a range of skin colours helping their Great-Grandmother blow out her Birthday candles, summarising, as Pardington remarked, “a long life of nurturing and the simple life shared by families everywhere”. Ayesha Green herself (Kaai Tahu, Ngati Kahungunu) described it as “an exhale of generations [referencing] the infinity of whakapapa and the creation legend of Tāne breathing life into the first woman”. Green’s painting was a cross-cultural mash-up in terms of both style and content. It featured neither koru nor kowhaiwhai yet its Maori wairua was unmistakeable. It slammed me in the heart and it made me wonder. Who are some of the other Maori artists whose work feels Maori but doesn’t always look Maori? Who are some of the others whose practice doesn’t necessarily include the iconography that many understand as signifying ‘authentic’ Maori art? And if you were able to put some of these artists together what might an exhibition look like?
TMG artists STAR GOSSAGE (Ngati Wai, Ngati Ruanui), RUSS FLATT (Ngati Kahungunu) and HIRIA ANDERSON (Rereahu, Ngati Maniapoto, Ngati Apakura) were immediately interested when we talked about it. I hoped that FIONA PARDINGTON and AYESHA GREEN would say yes, and they did. Emboldened, I approached BRETT GRAHAM (Ngati Koroki Kahukura, Tainui), NIKAU HINDIN (Ngapuhi, Te Rarawa) and the anonymous artist PĀNiA! and was thrilled to get their agreement also. We had a show.
The exhibition’s title Release the Stars comes from a 2007 Rufus Wainwright album inspired – the musician explains – by a wish to start “opening up and following impulses” and by “the fact that it’s time to get out there and be part of the solution”. Wainwright’s goals resonated with me. After 12 years Tim Melville Gallery is finding its voice and, despite having much still to learn, I feel a responsibility as a Maori gallerist (Te Arawa, Te Atiawa) to try and represent a Maori world-view to our predominantly European audience of friends and supporters. How can we build bridges? How can we encourage connection? And, going further, how can we explore and celebrate indigenous relationships within Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa and with our Iwi Moemoea cousins across the water in Australia?
This February, as another Waitangi Day looms and the complex and shifting relationships between Maori and Pakeha are foregrounded once again, we are proud to be able to present an exhibition by eight artists whose work speaks powerfully and insistently about being Maori, today, in 21st Century Aotearoa.
The exhibition will be opened by Pita Turei (Ngai Tai ki Tamaki, Ngati Paoa, Nga Rauru Kiitahi).
Is a founding member of Cove Theatre based in Hamilton. Cian recently completed a Bachelor of Teaching/Bachelor of Arts at Waikato University. She co-founded Cove Theatre in her last year of study at Waikato University and then their first production Rauru, which she co-wrote, performed and produced, went on to be programmed by both the Rotorua Fringe Festival and Kia Mau Festival.
Cian clearly centers kaupapa Māori behind the stories she develops and uses theatre to strengthen connections to her whakapapa and Mātauranga Māori. Cian has proven her bright future by securing further funding for the development and tour of works to Hamilton, Wellington and Auckland.
Ashley (Hine) Waitai-Dye – Ngāti Kuri Tārai Waka, Tā Moko
Hine Waitai-Dye is of Ngāti Kuri descent. Hine is currently studying Waka building at the New Zealand Māori Institute of Arts and Crafts, and she wishes to continue this mahi as well as her work as a Tā Moko artist her upbringing in Te Taitokerau has informed her strong knowledge of Mātauranga Toi.
Hine has assisted with the building of waka for the Suquamish Nation and contributed to the construction of canoes in Hilo, Hawaii and the recent Rātā waka symposium in Whāngarei. The judges noted that Hine is a strong role model for Māori women, unafraid to enter areas usually seen as the realm of men in tā moko, whakairo and canoe building; and when having acquired these skills and experiences continues to return home to her iwi of Ngāti Kuri, thereby demonstrating her commitment to te ‘hau kāinga’.
Te Tohu Toi Kē a Te Waka Toi | Making a Difference
Award winning actor, director, writer Nancy Brunning has been a major force in kaupapa Māori stories and an advocate for te reo Māori. She dedicated many years to supporting arts practitioners and was renowned for setting very high standards while coaching and as a Director for both for stage and film.
In 2014 Nancy was awarded a CNZ internship to attend the indigenous writing programme at the Banff Centre in Canada. Her most recent work was Witi’s Wāhine which she wrote and directed. The play premiered to great acclaim at the inaugural Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival in October this year. Co-founder of Hāpai Productions with actor/director Tanea Heke, Nancy was also a valued arts assessor for CNZ.
Nancy passed away peacefully on 16 November with her family beside her. Sadly Nancy’s passing came the day before she was publicly named as the recipient of the Bruce Mason Award 2019 by Playmarket. Her Te Waka Toi Award will be received by her family.
Te Tohu aroha mō Ngoi Kumeroa Pewhairangi: “Whakarongo, Titiro, Kōrero” | Award for strengthening Te Reo Rangatira
Derek Lardelli – Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Konohi (Ngai Te Riwai), Ngāti Kaipoho (Ngai Te Aweawe) Te Reo, Whaikōrero, Visual Arts, Haka, Tā Moko, Composer
Painter, carver, traditional Māori performance artist, composer, graphic designer, researcher of whakapapa, oral histories and kaikōrero, renowned tā moko artist and a champion for te reo Māori . Derek won NZ Arts Foundation Laureate award in 2004, was the inaugural Gallipoli artist-in-residence in 2006, and was awarded the honour of Officer of the NZ Order of Merit in 2008. Renowned for designing large scale art works on Hikurangi maunga to installing knowledge into NZ Olympians and the All Blacks.
Te Tohu Whakamanawa o Te Matatini | Recognising outstanding contribution to Kapa Haka
Wetini Mitai-Ngatai – Te Arawa, Te Whakatohea Kapa Haka
Traditional performance arts (kapa haka) traditional martial arts (mau rākau), business entrepreneur. Having performed throughout Rotorua for many groups, Wetini and Irirangi Tiakiawa Tahuriorangi started the renowned performance group Te Mātārae I Ōrehu in 2002. Wetini has been awarded the national male leader title at Te Matatini a total of five times and in a very short timeframe, Te Mātārae I Ōrehu has won the national title two times. In 2002 Wetini founded Mitai Maori Village in Rotorua, a Māori cultural performance and tourism attraction at Fairy Springs (Te Puna o Tūhoe), Rotorua. Through Mitai, Wetini wanted to provide employment for family and the wider community. As it nears 20 years of operation it employs more than 100 people including thirteen full-time staff.
Ngā Tohu ā Tā Kingi Ihaka | Sir Kingi Ihaka Awards recognising lifetime contribution
Maureen Robin Lander – Ngāpuhi Multimedia artist, Installation, Rāranga and Academic
Of Ngāpuhi (Te Hikutu hapū) and Pākehā descent, Maureen has exhibited nationally and internationally, taught Māori fibre arts at Auckland University, written for various publications and in 2002 was awarded a Doctorate in Fine Arts from Auckland University – and an inaugural Māori Academic Excellence Award, Fine Arts, Music, and Performing Arts, Te Tohu Toi Ururangi, sponsored by Toi Māori.
Rim D Paul – Te Arawa Music: Showbands, Choral
Rim D Paul is an important choral leader with a career that has brought high-quality Māori music to new domains. Noted for connecting Māori Choral groups with choral groups from range of ethnicities around the country, Rim has also worked with Māori showbands the Māori Hi-Quins and the Quin-Tikis. Rim D Paul has distinguished Māori music ancestry – his father Tai Paul, the musical arranger for the Howard Morrison Quartet and the Māori National Choir. In 1990 Rim formed the choir for New Zealand’s 1990 Sesquicentennial that performed at WOMAD 1992. In 2013 at the age of 71, Rim D Paul produced his first solo album, Waiata, Wairua, Waiora
A senior weaver in Aotearoa, respected within the ranks of equally accomplished senior weavers and part of Ngā Kahui Whiritoi, Sonia is widely admired for her fine weaving, especially her whāriki, kākahu, kete whaikairo, and tukutuku.
Sonia has also been a teacher of younger weavers and a long-time participant in Te Roopu Rāranga Whatu o Aotearoa (New Zealand National Māori Weavers’ Collective). For many years, Sonia has been a tutor in weaving at Te Wānanga o Raukawa.
Allen Wihongi – Ngāpuhi Whakairo, Mixed-media
Born in Kawakawa and educated in Kaikohe and at Auckland University’s Elam School of Fine Arts Allen had an extensive 30-year career as a teacher that included positions as a senior lecturer in the School of Design at Wellington Polytechnic and the head of the School of Applied Arts at Northland Polytechnic.
Allen worked for 12 years for the Ngapuhi Runanga in Kaikohe and has been a Māori design consultant on a number of significant projects, including the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior at the National Memorial in Wellington and the New Zealand Memorial Anzac Parade in Canberra. His design work and carvings have earned him respect in New Zealand and overseas.
John Klaricich – Ngāpuhi Te Reo, Whaikōrero, Literature, photography
John Karicich has made a significant contribution in the retention and development of heritage, and oral arts pertaining to his people of Ngāpuhi. John has firmly dedicated his efforts to the needs of his people of Ngāpuhi; His contributions and service to his people and community have been recognised by the Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit and Queen’s Service medals for service to community and Māori.
Te Tohu o Te Papa Tongarewa Rongomaraeroa | Outstanding contribution to Ngā Toi Māori
Kura Te Waru Rewiri – Ngāti Kahu, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kauwhata, Ngāti Rangi Visual Arts, Academic, Educator
From school age Kura was taught by some of New Zealand’s most prominent artists, Selwyn Wilson and Buck Nin who encouraged her to study at Ilam School of Fine Arts in Christchurch where she graduated in 1973 with a Diploma in Fine Art (Honours)
In 1974 Kura completed study to be a secondary teacher at Christchurch Training College and has taught at a number of New Zealand institutions, including secondary schools, tertiary colleges, universities and Whare Wananga.
Kura’s paintings are held in prestigious collections such as Wellington’s Te Papa Museum, Auckland Art Gallery, Waikato Museum of Art & History, Dunedin Art Gallery, The University of Auckland and the National Art Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
Te Māori Manaaki Taonga Trust:
Te Māori Award: Recognising Leadership in the Development of the Te Māori Exhibition
Ihakara (Kara) Puketapu – Te Atiawa Recognising the outstanding contribution by an individual to the success and legacy of Te Māori.
Kara was fundamental to the success of the Te Māori exhibition as Secretary for Māori Affairs, working under the auspices of the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council. This watershed international exhibition of Māori art – Te Māori (1984 – 1987) made a significant impact on the value of Māori cultural heritage, arts and people in New Zealand. This award is to restate the importance of Te Māori in the present and for future generations. The inaugural award will be a wahaika named Te Wehenga, produced by Rangi Kipa and acquired by Te Māori Manaaki Taonga Trust in 2015 to mark the launch of the new Trust deed.
Manaaki Taonga Award – Recognising the work of a Māori Artist who fulfils the legacy of Te Māori ‘He Taonga Tuku Iho’
Lewis Gardiner – Te Arawa, Ngāti Awa, Whanau a Apanui, NgāiTahu Whakairo
Lewis Gardiner is regarded as one of the foremost Māori pounamu artists in the country. In 1994, he graduated in Māori Craft and Design at the Waiariki Institute of Technology here in Rotorua and during his final year he was introduced to the valuable medium of pounamu (jade).
In 1995, he became a full-time jade and bone carver specializing in traditional Māori imagery. For almost 25 years Lewis has run his own greenstone studio in Rotorua that is regarded as one of the foremost design studios in the country. Lewis frequently exhibits internationally as part of residencies and artist exchanges.
Te Tohu mō Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu | Exemplary/Supreme Award
Rex Homan – Te Rarawa, Ngāti Paoa, Te Atiawa Sculptor
Rex Horman is a Coromandel-based artist and regarded as one of country’s finest wood-sculptors with a long career that found recognition in the 1960s and 1970s. Rex describes his work as contemporary Polynesian, drawing heavily on nature and mythology.
He Tirohanga Ki Tai (A View from the Shoreline): Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery is an exhibition featuring both leading and emerging Māori artists, who have created a completely sovereign space, supported by Indigenous funds, to hold a conversation critiquing the Cook invasion, the ensuing colonial experience, up to and including the TUIA250 events.
This exhibition started at Tairāwhiti Museum, in Whataupoko, Tūranganui a Kiwa, not far from the actual site of invasion itself. It has subsequently toured to New York, where it was hosted by the ORA Gallery in Manhattan and accompanied with talks by First Nations scholars on the specific impacts of the Doctrine of Discovery and Indigenous women.
It is presented in the Calder & Lawson Gallery during the NAISA 2019 (Native American and Indigenous Studies) Conference hosted by the University of Waikato. This year is the first NAISA conference to be held outside of the US and Canada, and will be held at the University from 26 – 29 June.
“He Tirohanga ki Tai: Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery is an art exhibition and public forum that addresses the historical fallacy of the European ‘discovery’ of Aotearoa New Zealand. As the title suggests, he tirohanga ki tai (a view from the shore), the exhibition provides an indigenous perspective looking out from our place in the world.” – Reuben Friend, Director – Pataka Art + Museum, Porirua City
The exhibition features works by Robyn Kahukiwa, Rachael Rakena, Ngāhina Hohaia, Israel Tangaroa Birch, Tina Ngata, Tāwera Tahuri, Charlotte Graham, Numangatini MacKenzie, Kauri Hawkins, Derek Lardelli, John Moetara and Emily Kitson.
We spent weeks looking for Maori made art products in shops in Auckland recently and it was frustrating. Either retailers don’t know who their Maori artists are or the products were not identified as Maori made. The same old problem of our traditional adornments, artworks, patterns being made and sold by non-Maori while our own Maori artists are invisible.
For that reason, we are printing more Toi Iho labels and brochures for artists and retailers. Contact me if you are ready to use them. Claim our indigenous culture! As a retailer, if you have artists who are producing high quality work, make an application with them for Toi Iho. It’s time to get moving again.
Lewis Tamihana Gardiner (Te Arawa, Ngāti Awa, Whanau a Apanui, Ngāi Tahu) is a leading pounamu artist who is attracted to working with jade for its solidity, beauty and ancestral connection.
He is known for his unique design aesthetic, use of inlay and incorporating several varieties of jade in a single work to create depth and variety.
Hā: Lewis Tamihana Gardiner is one of three exhibitions, and an art education programme, that forms the Tauranga Art Gallery’s 2019 Matariki celebrations for Maori New Year.
Retailers are vitally important to identifying Maori artists work with the Toi Iho trademark. The original motive for developing the Mark was to distinguish Maori products from others, particularly when traditional patterns are being copied by non-Maori artists. Retailers are encouraged to step forward and identify Maori artists who are on the Toi Iho list (see toiiho.co.nz) and label their retail products. If your artists create high quality works, encourage them to apply for assessment so that they can join Toi Iho ranks. Having Toi Iho is an advantage for the buyer, the seller and the artist. Toi Iho shows the very best of Maori art.
Retailers are vitally important in identifying Maori artists work with the Toi Iho trademark. The original motive for developing the Mark was to distinguish Maori products from others, particularly when traditional designs and patterns are being copied by non-Maori artists. Retailers are encouraged to step forward and identify Maori artists who are on the Toi Iho list (see toiiho.co.nz) and label their retail products. If your Maori artists create high-quality works, encourage them to apply for Toi Iho assessment so that they can join Toi Iho ranks. Having Toi Iho is an advantage for the buyer, the seller and the artist. Toi Iho shows the very best of Maori art.
I have just finished a frustrating search for Maori made art work and there is no obvious way of telling the work of our indigenous artists. In discussion with retailers, some guessed that ‘they could be Maori’ but generally said there was no way of knowing. Six weeks later, I have found beautiful taonga in Hastings, online. We are keen to enlist the artist and have her name linked to Toi Iho. Come on Retailers, join up.
Three Toi Iho artists are showing their work in the Oceania exhibition in the Royal Academy, London this year. They are Lisa Reihana, Michael Parekowhai and Fiona Partington.
This is the first major Oceanic show to be held in the UK. Oceania shows from 29 September to 10 December 2018.
Soft Paradise / Ka Rongo Te Pō, Ka Rongo Te Ao: Works by Fiona Pardington at the Tauranga Art gallery.
29 September – 2 December 2018
This recently opened, solo exhibition features a selection of Fiona Pardington’s signature large format photographic works that explore themes of nature, collecting and remnants of history.
The exhibition features 16 of her impressive works focused predominantly on still-life arrangements, alongside a pair of large-scale portraits.
Fiona Pardington is an award winning, internationally renowned artist who has been honoured in New Zealand and France. She is represented in the collections of The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and the Christchurch Art Gallery, amongst many other public collections in New Zealand.
Principal Exhibition Partner: Cooney Lees Morgan
Support Partner: Starkwhite
Aligned with the Bay of Plenty Garden & Art Festival
Fiona is also showing work in the Oceania exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London 29 September – 10 December 2018.
