Two prominent Northland artists have fresh inspiration after attending a cultural art exchange in the US.
Northland clay work artist Manos Nathan and fellow Northland clay worker Colleen Waata-Urlich were invited to attend the Pacific Rim Exhibition held at the Clatsop Community College, Astoria, Oregon.
The exhibition featured the work of artists from nations bound together by the Pacific Ocean.
The exhibition was of neo-traditional artworks, representative of the people living in the Pacific Rim.
Maori painter and printmaker Gabrielle Belz, two Hawaiian artists, Maile Andrade and Chuck Souza, as well as native American artists Lillian Pitt, Greg Robinson, and Gail Tremblay were the other invited artists.
The exchange was funded through Toi Maori Aotearoa: Maori Arts New Zealand and Te Waka Toi, an arm of Creative New Zealand which supports the development of Maori art.
Both artists have been involved in indigenous art exchanges for more than 20 years and both say the spin-offs not only include the interaction, sharing and inspiration between artists, but embracing of the artists by the whole community.
Following a blessing ceremony, led by the Clatsop-Nehalem Confederated Tribes, artists presented public lectures and slideshows and senior high school students from the surrounding area attended a "Fish Bowl" presentation and exhibition viewing.
Students and community members were also invited to participate in a day-long series of art workshops where each artist demonstrate their own methods of working in their medium.
The attendance at these workshops was overwhelming", Ms Waata-Urlich said.
"Clatsop has a population of around 9500 people. In the last 15 years the community has focused on the arts, much like Nelson in the 1970s," Mr Nathan said.
"There is total community buy-in and we were treated and received well by everyone."
An opportunity was given the numerous artists gathered to fire their green ware in a huge Anagama (dragon) multi-chambered Japanese-style kiln which takes a week to fire and a team to work it, day and night. It is fired only once or twice a year.
The Northlanders said they had selected their exhibition works on the basis of informing others about Maori culture - "they were pieces of the narrative", Mr Nathan said.
Ms Waata-Urlich said it was eye-opening to find out Hawaiian native artists don't have indigenous status, but are called American.
"As New Zealanders we are particularly lucky to not only be recognised, but to be funded as Maori artists," she said.
Mr Nathan agreed, saying Maori had been proactive for about 35 years and the Government was leading the way in showing support for indigenous art.
"The cultural exchanges help empower other indigenous peoples to keep their traditions alive," he said.
They also serve to promote artists - particularly new and upcoming artists - and often such works capture collectors' imaginations.
Native American artists have themselves opened the doors to their own dealer galleries.
In this case Mr Nathan and Ms Waata-Urlich and Gabrielle Belz were invited by native American Lillian Pitt to exhibit at the Quintana Gallery.
Ms Pitt is a descendant of the Wasco, Yakima and Warm Springs people.
Her works of art use contemporary media and art forms which draw on over 10,000 years of history and tradition in the region of her birth.