Dance at Tokomaru Bay

OUT OF THE EARTH: A stoneware assault rifle (complete with shell) created by Amorangi Hikuroa and Richard Derbyshire is one of the more unusual works in the Toru Tekau Nga Kaihanga Uku - Maori Clay Artists exhibition at Tairawhiti Museum. Picture by Mark Peters

Formed 30 years ago Kaihanga Uku – Maori Clay Artists marked the birth of a new movement in world ceramics. Among the Tight Five, or Nga Tokorima, who made up the nucleus of the clay artists was Tokomaru Bay potter Baye Riddell whose towering kaitiaki are the first works visitors encounter at the show. Other familiar themes, such as whakapapa (genealogy), are explored in two performances on Saturday as part of Kaihanga Uku’s 30 year celebrations.

Kiri is a collaboration between a sculptor and dancer. It is described as “redefining our knowledge of skin and clay, geology and whakapapa, the sacred and the mundane.” In Te Ao, performers present traditional stories through karetao (Maori puppetry).