Maori women's Treaty artworks

Not for Sale by Linda Munn. Photo/supplied

In commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi, the exhibition Waitangi Wahine brings together five women who have made artwork in response to the impact of the treaty and its affect on Maori today.

Featuring work from mana wahine Robyn Kahukiwa, Tracey Tawhiao, Suzanne Tamaki, Linda Munn and Andrea Hopkins, this provocative exhibition of painting and photography explores some of the social and political issues that have arisen since the treaty was signed in 1840.

Some of New Zealand's foremost Maori women artists present their work in Waitangi Wahine, including Tracey, who is a writer, performance poet, filmmaker, qualified lawyer and leading Maori artist based in Auckland.

Her artworks are made from newspaper, which she reworks using Maori symbols and motifs to rewrite and recreate news stories from an alternative, Maori, perspective.

By obscuring words in a headline or passages of an article and layering sheets of newspaper, she changes the focus of news items and editorials.

Tauranga-based Linda Munn has been involved in protest art since the 1980s, when art became a media used to comment on current issues.

In 1989 she collaborated with two other mums in one of their kitchens to design the Tino Rangatiratanga flag, which has been acknowledged as a symbol of Maori sovereignty. The flag features in much of the work in the exhibition.

The exhibition Waitangi Wahine, which is developed and toured by Expressions Whirinaki with the generous support of Creative New Zealand and Waitangi Day Commemoration Fund, can be seen at Tauranga Art Gallery toi Tauranga until December 6.