TOI MĀORI GALLERY

Established in 2018, the Toi Māori Gallery offers opportunities for Māori artists to exhibit their work in central Wellington and through the Toi Māori Aotearoa digital network.
 
This small and well-appointed space is ideal for solo exhibitions by artists who live outside of Wellington, group shows by emerging and established roopu and snapshots of Māori arts activity supported by Toi Māori Aotearoa.

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Current Exhibition

Tū Takawhiti: 40 years of retrospective exhibition (15 October - 26 November)

Visual Māori artist, tā moko artist, painter, carver, kapa haka performer, orator, composer, graphic designer, researcher of whakapapa and oral histories, kaikōrero and educationalist.

​Tū Takawhiti (keep moving), a retrospective exhibition, represents 40 years of creative change and moving forward by looking back!

Past Exhibitions
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​2021

Atā Tū: Toi Whakaata Māori Print Collective Exhibition (12 February - 26 March 2021)

Curated by Gabrielle Belz, Atā Tu showcases the wide range of printmaking techniques employed by Toi Whakaata, the Māori Print Collective.

Marwin Begaye (Navajo), Maude Cook-Davies (Ngāti Hine), Natalie Couch (Ngāti Tūwharetoa), Sam Farquhar (Te Ātiawa), Jasmine Horton (​Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Ati Haunui a Pāpārangi, Te Ātiawa), Simon Kaan (Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe, Kai Tahu), Faith McManus (Ngā Puhi, Ngāi Takoto), Alexis Neal (Ngāti Awa), Kahurangi Rihari-Poa (Ngā Puhi​), Paora Tiatoa (Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Raukawa​).

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Toi o Taranaki ki te Tonga - Mounga (9 April - 21 May 2021)

Formed in 2019 the collective Toi o Taranaki ki te Tonga present a selection of contemporary works that include fibre works sourced from traditional forms, digitally constructed prints as social commentary today, and narrative photographic essays. 

Bonita Bigham (Ngāruahine, Te Ātiawa), Mako Jones (Ngāti Pahauwera), Kim Kahu (Ngā Ruahine), Monica Wilson (Tainui, Ngāti Maniapoto), Rangi Kipa (Te Ātiawa), Barry Te Whatu (Taranaki Tuuturu, Ngāpuhi), Haoro Honde-Goffe, Keiron Toa (Te Ātiawa), Te Rangi Martell, Maria Brockhill (Te Ātiawa), Sam Farquhar (Te Ātiawa), Jordan Quinnell (Ngā Ruahinerangi, Taranaki, Ngāti Tuwharetoa), Lara Ruakere (Ngāruahine), Luther Ashford (Ngaa Rauru Kiitahi/Ngāti Ruanui)

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Ngā Poopokorua a Rua | The Industry of Rua Te Pūpuke (28 May - 9 July 2021)

Curated by Eugene Kara, Ngā Poopokoarua a Rua featured a glimpse into the studios of whakairo practitioners around the country.

Simon Lardelli (Ngāti Konohi, Rongowhakaata, Taranaki), Mike Green (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa), Nathan Roa (Ngāti Maniapoto), Kereama Taepa (Te Arawa, Te Āti Awa), Daniel Ormsby (Ngāti Maniapoto), Eugene Kara (Ngāti Koroki, Kahukura, Ngāti Tipa, Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Pāhauwera, Te Atihaunui a Pāpārangi, Ngā Rauru, Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa)

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Whakakai (30 July - 10 September 2021)

This exhibition showcases new work by participants in the Toi Māori Aotearoa Whakakai Mentoring Programme, which was initiated by Rangi Kipa to develop a supportive cohort of wahine Māori artists working in three-dimensions.

Exhibiting Artists: 
Alix Ashworth (Manning) (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha), Chris Harvey (Moriori, Kati Mamoe, Ngāti Mutunga, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Toa Rangatira), Rangimarie McDowell (Ngāti Hine), Ngaroma Riley (Te Rarawa, Te Aupouri), Tessa Harris (Ngai Tai ki Tāmaki, Waiohua, Ngāpuhi), Keri-Mei Zagrobelna (Te Whanau-a-Apanui, Te Āti Awa), Piri Cowie (Kāi Tahu, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa), Hanie Mauheni (Ngāti Porou)

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2020

Ara Mai Nuku: Rise up from the Earth (21 February - 15 March 2020)

Baye Riddell (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-a-Ruataupare), Wi Taepa (Ngāti Pikiao, Te-Roro-o-Te-Rangi, Te Arawa and Te Āti Awa), Carla Ruka (Nga Puhi, Ngāti Whātua, Ngati Porouri), Amorangi Hikuroa (Nga Puhi, Ngāti Maniapoto), Dorothy Waetford (Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi-nui-tonu). Includes two group installations of unfired works by Todd Douglas (), Noelle Jakeman (), Rhonda Halliday (), Ida Edwards ()

Members of Ngā Kaihanga Uku present Ara Mai Nuku: Rise up from the Earth, which contributes to the ‘Fired Up: Festival of Ceramics’ as part of the New Zealand Festival of the Arts 2020. Featuring new work from Baye Riddell, Wi Taepa, Carla Ruka and Amorangi Hikuroa, the exhibition also includes two group installations of unfired works by Todd Douglas, Noelle Jakeman, Rhonda Halliday, Ida Edwards and Dorothy Waetford.

Ngā Kaihanga Uku are a collective of Māori artists who aspire to develop ceramic work from a Māori world view.
 
Ara Mai Nuku as a metaphor alludes to a path rising up from the earth; a broad cultural reference to the past, present and future wellbeing of ceramics as a contemporary form of creative expression for Māori.
 
Ara Mai Nuku: Rise up from the Earth presents the idea of clay as a medium for the expression of Māori culture and identity - a growing legacy and continuum that speaks now and into the future.
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​The exhibition runs from 21 February – 15 March at Toi Māori Gallery, Level 1 Korea House, 29 Tory Street, Te Aro Wellington.  Hours open are 10am – 2pm, Monday to Saturday.

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Te maramatanga aoao nui (17 July – 21 August)
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Te maramatanga aoao nui, makes reference to a phase or form of light – this particular phase - A wintry form of light or The kind of light that prevails in winter. [1]
 
This intimate collection of mixed media work by Tai and Kaaterina Kerekere, illuminates narratives of reclaiming self, voice, whakapapa, land, imagery, knowledge, identity - a resilient light from darkness.

​[1] 1 http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Bes01Reli-t1-body-d3-d8.html
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2018

He Timatanga Hou - A New Beginnings (28 June – 27 July 2018)

The Toi Māori Gallery opened its first exhibition on 28 June with He Timatanga Hou: New Beginnings. Inspired by the Matariki, the exhibition celebrates and acknowledges the emergence of new Māori artistic talents. It consists of emerging artists Tim Steel, Kauri Hawkins, Paretapu Teira, Pikihuia Haenga and Jamie Berry. 

Kirihou: Plastic - A Hohua Thompson Solo Exhibition (23 August – 14 September 2018)

Kirihou: Plastic – A Hohua Thompson Solo Exhibition opened on 23 August. Hohua Thompson is a young artist based on Auckland. Using corflute to create traditional Māori weaving patterns, the artist addresses the effects of colonisation and the cultural disconnection of many Māoris today.


Words Remains - Ngā kupu ka mau tonu - Māori Poetry Reading and Exhibition
(15 October – 1 November 2018)
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Words Remain – Nga Kupu ka mau tonu gathers and promotes 5 emerging and 2 senior Māori writers based in Te Whanganui A Tara. Readings were performed by Writers on the opening night. A selection of five poems from the emerging Māori writers have been printed and was on display inside the gallery accompanied by all the recording of the Writers’ reading on the opening night. Showcased writers are Hana Pera Aoake, Nicole Titihuia Hawkins, tokorima Taihuringa, Aziembry Aolani, Tayi Tibble and senior writers Briar Grace-Smith and Patricia Grace Smith.

Tūārangi: Hine Pae Kura Collective Exhibition (7 – 20 December 2018)

Tūārangi explores the impact of time on Māori Women. The exhibition features the Hine Pae Kura Collective consisting of Sian Montgomery-Neutze, Xoë Hall, Keri-Mei Zagrobelna, Rangimarie Jolley, Pikihuia Haenga and Miriama Grace-Smith.​

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Contact

Edgardo Tabios
Toi Māori Gallery Coordinator