MAORI art MARKet 2009
08 Oct 2009
MAORI art MARKet 2009
09 - 11 October 2009
The largest collection of contemporary Maori art ever exhibited has gone on display in Porirua near Wellington at the 2009 MAORI art MARKet.
Work from more than 200 leading and emerging contemporary Maori artists - including painters, carvers, photographers, jewellery makers and sculptors - is being exhibited at Pataka Museum and Te Rauparaha Events Centre.
The three day market is a bi-annual event - part of a festival organised by Toi Maori Aotearoa, a charitable trust that promotes Maori art in New Zealand and abroad.
Maori Art 2009
The 2009 MAORI art MARKet is the third such exhibition, following on from the San Francisco 'Maori Art Meets America' project in 2005, and ‘MAORI MARKet 2007’ which was held in Wellington city.
This year’s showing is more comprehensive and will feature artist debates, presentations and a gala opening evening.
The New Zealand art event is based on the highly successful Indian Market which evolved over 80 years ago and is held in Santa Fe every August. As part of this concept, other indigenous artists are invited to attend and the MAORI art MARKet will follow that lead this year.
Invited artists
Nine guest artists including Patricia Michaels, a renowned native American fashion designer, Dan Namingha a Hopi Indian contemporary painter, Richard Zane Smith master ceramicist of the Wyandot Nation, and Dempsey Bob the Tahltan Tlingit sculptor will show. Invited Pacific artists include Lorene Taurerewa, Michel Tuffery, and writer and painter Albert Wendt.
MAORI art MARKet offers the public a chance to meet the artists and see them working, and for the artists it is a chance to discuss and debate contemporary cultural issues.
Toi Maori Aotearoa
The MAORI art MARKet event has evolved from a partnership between Toi Maori Aotearoa and Porirua city.
The idea began as part of the `Eternal Thread' exhibition in San Francisco under the name of `Maori Art Meets America'. That exhibition became historic when, for the first time, a Maori war canoe (waka) sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge.
That was followed by a dawn ceremony launch of Maori art at the Yerba Buena Arts Centre in San Francisco. Americans started asking where they could purchase the art in New Zealand and that gave rise to MAORI MARKet in Wellington City in 2007.
Toi Maori Aotearoa have been instrumental in building the international profile of Maori art with other events including the successful exhibition Small Maori Treasures at the de Young Museum in San Francisco in October 2008, and at the Blacktown Art Gallery in Sydney earlier this year.
International interest
Creative Director for MAORI art MARKet, Darcy Nicholas, said the contemporary Maori art movement was being watched with great interest throughout Asia, the Pacific Rim and Europe.
"Many of these artists are already exhibiting and have been selling their work on the international stage for several years. A number of them are not well known in New Zealand, yet have work in major private collections overseas where the art market is much bigger, more dynamic and competitive", he said.
It is estimated that NZ$1 million of artwork will change hands during or soon after the 2009 MAORI art MARKet. Exhibited work will range from painting, carving, photography and weaving through to silver jewellery, clay, mixed media and Ta Moko.
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