On September 27, works by Parihaka artist Ngaahina Hohaia (Ngati Moeahu, Ngati Haupoto) will launch City Gallery Wellington’s new Roderick and Gillian Deane Gallery, dedicated to Māori and Pacific art. Visitors will encounter hundreds of embroidered poi reflecting on interactions between the people of Parihaka and the colonial forces in the late 19th century. In particular, Ngaahina honours Parihaka’s political and spiritual leaders, Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi, and their vision to build a peaceful relationship between Māori and Pakeha.
“I am delighted that Ngahina Hohaia’s exhibition will open the Deane Gallery,” says City Gallery Director, Paula Savage, “Ngaahina’s whanau were instrumental in the creation of the 2000-2001 Parihaka exhibition at City Gallery, during which Ngaahina worked as a guide. It is fabulous to be able to continue this relationship.”
The exhibition has been drawn together by Reuben Friend, recently appointed Curator, Māori and Pacific Art. Reuben notes that Ngaahina’s works create giant patterns, with each poi pattern referencing a customary Māori design that has specific cultural and historic symbolism. The main work, Roimata Toroa, is made up of 392 poi embroidered with symbols of the Parihaka community’s passive resistance against invasion by Government troops. One of these symbols is Roimata Toroa (the tears of the albatross) which references the three albatross feathers that represent the Parihaka movement.
The exhibition has been drawn together by Reuben Friend, recently appointed Curator, Māori and Pacific Art.
The poi themselves are constructed from 100% New Zealand wool blankets symbolising the trade between Maori and Pakaha. They are also examples of products of the New Zealand economy that are built on confiscated Māori land. The blanket stands as a symbol for the land but also the historical imbalance of power. Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi stated to the crown that they were willing to share their “blanket”, but that sovereign independence must remain with Māori.
The Deane Gallery is the result of the generosity of benefactors Roderick and Gillian, who created the Deane Endowment Trust in memory of their daughter Kristen.
Image credits: -- Ngaahina Hohaia. Patuki Manawa, (2008). Image courtesy of the artist. -- Ngaahina Hohaia. Roimata Toroa (detail) (2007). Collection of Govett-Brewster Art Gallery. Photograph: Bryan James. Reproduced courtesy of the artist.
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