Te Atinga
Contemporary Visual Arts
Formed in 1987 as a committee within the Maori and South Pacific Arts Council (MASPAC), Te Atinga develops projects to promote Contemporary Maori Art through exhibitions, symposiums, workshops and publications.
Committee members:
Chris Bryant - Pouwhakahaere (Napier)
Sandy Adsett (Hastings)
Gabrielle Belz (Auckland)
June Northcroft Grant (Rotorua)
Ngatai Taepa (Palmerston North)
Hemi Macgregor (Wellington)
Manos Nathan (Dargaville)
Saffron Te Ratana (Palmerston North)
Colleen Waata-Urlich (Dargaville)
Dorothy Waetford (Dargaville)
Kaumatua:
Te Aue Davis (Manukau)
The Te Atinga Funding Scheme from 1989-1992 provided grants to emerging and mid career artists.
Indigenous Artists' Gatherings
From back: Manos Nathan, Chris Bryant, Nigel Borell. Front: Colleen Waata Urlich, Dorothy Waetford, June Grant, Gabrielle Belz
The 1995 Indigenous Artists Symposium at Apumoana Marae Rotorua created the largest gathering ever of Pacific Rim indigenous contemporary visual artists.
This was followed in 2000 with the Te Ra Festival at Toihoukura in Gisborne. Again representation was from the Pacific Rim, USA and Canada. Representatives from Malaysia were in attendance for the first time at such a gathering.
The next big symposium of Pacific Rim Artists was in June 2001 at Evergreen State College near Seattle, USA. This was the venue for 'The Return to the Swing - Gathering of Indigenous Visual Artists" .
Te Mata - 3rd Gathering of Contemporary Indigenous Visual Artists will be held in Hastings. Planning is in preparation for January 2005.
Other activities
The New Zealand International Arts Festival has featured a Te Atinga exhibition in in every festival since 1994.
In 1996 at City Art Gallery, Wellington, Te Atinga created an environment unrivalled for the living arts of Maori, the exhibition Patua. This event was the launch of Toi Maori Aotearoa, and the venue hosted all eight of the founding committees of Toi Maori.
Te Atinga has been a key advocate for Contemporary Maori art courses within the Tertiary education programmes. Prominent amongst these institutions are Toihoukura in Gisborne, Waiariki in Rotorua and Toi Oho Ki Apiti in Palmerston North. Maori graduates of mainstream arts courses continue to expand the range and genre of contemporary Maori visual arts expression.
Te Atinga supports sculptors, painters, adornment artists, fibre artists, print artists and glass artists. Through wananga artists can develop a collective strength in progressing their art making. Kaihanga Uku, the National Collective of Ceramic Artists and Kauae, the Contemporary Maori Women's Collective, work in support of Te Atinga.
Appointment of new members is by invitation of the committee. Membership is voluntary and relies heavily on that aspect to provide the workforce for exhibition planning, installation and workshop support.
Click here for the latest committee news and arts updates.
This page last updated 13 June 2005