​Fired Up: festival of ceramics is a celebration of ceramics across the Wellington region to coincide with the New Zealand Festival of the Arts, Friday 21 February — Sunday 15 March 2020. Included in Fired Up are 13 exhibitions featuring ceramics, collection and exhibition tours, and a 1-day symposium on Monday 24 February.

Exhibitions
There will be an Art Night on Saturday 22 February 5–11pm. All the dealer galleries will be open on this evening. Please look out for a map at participating galleries. Public galleries will not be open on the late night.

Symposium
Monday 24 February 2020, 8.45am – 5.15pm
Prefab Hall, 14 Jessie Street
Free, koha for catering at the door

For more information, please visit the Fired Up Festival of Ceramics website:
firedupceramics.net/

​Te Whare Pora, 2012, is a powerful statement of indigenous knowledge systems and collective creativity. It is the first work made by the four-artist Mata Aho Collective and the newest acquisition to the Victoria University of Wellington Art Collection.

Mata Aho Collective:
Erena Baker (Te Atiawa, Ngāti Toarangatira, Ngāti Raukawa)
Sarah Hudson (Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe) 
Bridget Reweti (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi) 
Terri Te Tau (Ngāti Kahungunu, Rangitāne ki Wairarapa)

​When: 
Tuesday–Sunday, 11am-5pm

Where: 
Level 3, Congreve Foyer
Adam Art Gallery,
Gate 3, Victoria University, Kelburn Parade, Wellington

Cost of admission: Free entry

Website:
www.adamartgallery.org.nz/current-exhibition/
​
Image Credit:
Mata Aho Collective making Te Whare Pora, Enjoy Public Art Gallery Wellington, 2011 (photo courtesy of Mata Aho Collective)

E Hina e! E Hine e! explores the contemporary relevance of female Māori and Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) akua/atua (ancestors). Focusing on our profound connections, and told through contemporary and traditional taonga (treasures), oratory, and visual storytelling, this exhibition celebrates the female essence.

We honour ngā atua/akua wāhine, the divine feminine, embodied in whenua/ʻāina (land), moana (ocean), wai (water), and ngāi tipu, ngāi kiirehe (flora and fauna), to emphasize the importance of mana wāhine from time immemorial. Featuring female voices (kōrero/moʻolelo) of wāhine whom anthropologists and historians omitted from mainstream texts and resources, we seek to restore gender complementarity and balance. The reclamation of the centrality of wāhine/women is timely, because presenting (her) stories that manifest in our natural environment illuminates a pathway toward a more sustainable future, imbued with relationship. 

Developed by Dr Nālani Wilson-Hokowhitu (Kanaka Maoli), Dr Aroha Yates-Smith (Te Arawa, Tainui, Horouta, Takitimu, Matātua), and curator Poutiaki Whakataki Maree Mills (Ngāti Tūwharetoa), this exhibition draws from their research and collective commitment to hear, understand and act on these messages. The continuation of human life on this planet is, in their view, dependent upon it.

Location: 
Waikato Museum
1 Grantham Street, Hamilton

When: On now

Cost of admission: Free entry

Website:
waikatomuseum.co.nz/exhibitions-and-events/view/2145883308/e-hina-e-e-hine-e-mana-waahine-maaorimaoli-of-past-present-and-future
​
Image Credit:
Courtesy of Lisa Reihana and Milford Galleries Dunedin

Ralph Hotere: Godwit/Kuaka

​In 1977, Ralph Hotere was commissioned by Auckland International Airport to create an 18-metre long mural for installation in the Arrivals Hall of the Jean Batten Terminal building.

By inviting Ralph Hotere’s response to long-distance air travel, the airport commissioned one of New Zealand’s largest murals. The artist chose the painting’s theme to be a welcome to returning citizens and a greeting to visitors arriving at this, the country’s busiest airport. The artist wanted his painting to evoke non-stop, long-distance air travel.

Originally titled The Flight of the Godwit, Hotere’s mural remained in the airport’s welcoming area until 1996, when redevelopment of the terminal building began. The mural was removed from the airport’s art collection, purchased by the Chartwell Trust and lent to Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki in 1996. At that time, Ralph Hotere renamed the mural Godwit/Kuaka.

The kūaka (bar-tailed godwit, Limosa lapponica baueri) is a shore bird whose flight endurance is unparalleled. Renowned for undertaking transoceanic aerial journeys between Alaska and New Zealand, it has the reputation of a ‘can do and go anywhere’ animal. Its physical stamina is legendary; travelling non-stop over 10,000 kilometres across the Pacific Ocean. It starts and ends its journey without once receiving the nourishment of food.

The artist’s father, Tangirau Hotere, taught his son the ancient Māori chant stencilled at the mural’s centre. Shortly prior to the artist’s death in 2013, he recorded part of the Muriwhenua chanting for installation of Godwit/ Kuaka in this gallery. The recording plays on the hour and every half-hour.

When:
20 October 2019 - 19 January 2020

Where: 
Auckland Art Gallery
Ground Level, Wellesley Street East, Auckland CBD, Auckland
​10am - 5pm

Website:
www.aucklandartgallery.com/whats-on/exhibition/ralph-hotere-godwit-kuaka
​
Image Credit:
Ralph Hotere
Godwit/Kuaka 1977 (installation view)
Commissioned by Auckland International Airport, 1977
Chartwell Collection
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1996

​HOME: MR G

​Mr G is coming home for his solo exhibition at the Tauranga Art Gallery this summer.

In partnership with Tauranga City Council, this exhibition celebrates local artist, Mr G (Graham Hoete) who is recognised internationally for his highly rendered large-scale, spray-painted portraits. Mr G’s exhibition explores the theme of haukāinga (home), including his family connection to Matakana and Motiti Islands. While he could live anywhere in the world, Mr G resides in Papamoa. His deep affection for his whanau and whenua has him rooted to Tauranga Moana; the perfect place and theme for his first solo exhibition, with the key themes of whakapapa and hononga.

When:
9 November 2019 - 9 February 2020
10.00am - 4.30pm daily

Where: 
Tauranga Art Gallery
Cnr Wharf and Willow Streets, Downtown Tauranga

Free Entry

Website:
www.artgallery.org.nz/mrgcominghome

20/20: words of wisdom
Wayne Youle

Twenty years ago Wayne Youle participated in his first art exhibition at a newly opened Pātaka Art Gallery and Museum here in Porirua. In the years since, he has established a reputation as one of our country’s leading contemporary artists.

​The artworks in 20/20: words of wisdom reflect on important life lessons that Wayne Youle has learnt over these past two decades. In the exhibition you will see a number of early works where Youle has not held back in deconstructing and interrogating his own bicultural heritage as an artist of Māori and Pākehā ancestry. Many of these early artworks draw inspiration from a range of contemporary art and pop culture references from Youle’s childhood, such as Gordon Walters’ famous koru paintings, or the shower-curtain Halloween costume from the cult classic movie Karate Kid (1984). These seemingly disparate influences speak to the cultural politics and personal identity of Wayne Youle as a child of the 1970s and 80s.

Other pieces in the exhibition reflect on works made since the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes, noting a shift in focus away from Youle’s own personal identity politics towards an engagement with family and the communities that surround them. Insights gleaned from his children, parents and mentors begin to appear in the titles of these recent works, marked also by a noticeable progression towards more complex and labour-intensive art practices.

Throughout the exhibition Wayne Youle has placed short written statements about certain artworks which speak to some of the key lessons that he has explored in his art over the past twenty years. These are intimate tales, words of wisdom passed down to the artist from his elders, and from him on to his children. Other works provide a hint as to their significance through the title and imagery, but you the viewer are left to deduce the meaning through your knowledge and life experiences.

​Location: Pātaka  Art + Museum, Cnr Parumoana and Norrie St, Porirua - Mana, Wellington Region

When: 15 December 2019 - 29 March 2020
Mon-Sat: 10am-5pm, Sun: 11am-4:30pm
​
Cost of admission: Free entry

Website:
​pataka.org.nz/whats/exhibitions/wayne-youle-2020-words-of-wisdom/ 

Puhoro ō mua, Puhoro ki tua showcases over 100 indigenous artists from across the globe including Aotearoa New Zealand. It celebrates the diversity of contemporary indigenous art while highlighting the legacy of tradition present within contemporary practice.

It is presented in tandem with the 9th International Indigenous Artists Gathering being held at Tuurangawaewae Marae, Ngaaruawaahia, in November.

When: 23 November 2019 - 23 February 2020
Where: Waikato Museum, 1 Grantham Street, Hamilton

Free entry

Website: Waikato Museum

Rātana: The Healing Faith
Rātana: Te Kaiwhakaora

Rātana: Te Kaiwhakaora is a mini exhibition that commemorates the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Rātana church. It gives visibility and voice to the musical, cultural, and artistic heritage of the iwi Mōrehu, Rātana followers.
​

Location: Level 4, behind Signs of a Nation, Te Papa Tongarewa
When: On Now

Website:
​https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/visit/exhibitions/ratana-healing-faith

Ko Rongowhakaata: The Story of Light and Shadow
Ko Rongowhakaata: Ruku i te Pō, Ruku i te Ao
Explore the land, people, and stories of Rongowhakaata, an iwiiwi tribe whose unique art reflects their innate creativity, rich history, and innovative spirit.

​

​Location: Level 4, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa​
When: Long-term exhibition
Cost of admission: Free entry

Website:
​https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/visit/exhibitions/ko-rongowhakaata-story-light-and-shadow