Two of the handsewn artworks in Ā Mua, an exhibition by Melanie Tangeare Baldwin at Tairāwhiti Museum.
Two of the handsewn artworks in Ā Mua, an exhibition by Melanie Tangeare Baldwin at Tairāwhiti Museum.
Sculptural handstitched textile art depicting powerful female forms and the symbolism of fire in light boxes are part of a new exhibition by Gisborne artist Melanie Tangaere Baldwin.
Tangaere Baldwin (Ngāti Porou) is a multi-disciplinary artist whose previous works include painting, sculpture, digital manipulation, photography and video. She is alsocurator of Te Ara i Whiti - the light trail at the Tairāwhiti Arts Festival.
The central work in her latest exhibition, titled Ā Mua and running at Tairāwhiti Museum, was made during her residency at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in the United Kingdom in late 2024.
It features a female figure representing an aunty, someone to look up to and depend upon and the metaphorical mouths she feeds.
“I am interested in the obligation we have to our children and the contribution we can make to the future,” Tangaere Baldwin said.
Tangaere Baldwin was interested in using textiles as a sculptural medium, so rather than creating a decorative wall hanging, she wanted the work to stand on its own.
Artist Melanie Tangeare Baldwin says she finds peace in the skill and labour of handstitching.
“In a time when I feel worried often and wonder how safe the world is and will be for my tamariki, I find peace in the skill and labour of hand stitching - of slowly bringing things together.”
A waiata, Hoki Mai, by multidisciplinary artist Te Kahureremoa, accompanies the exhibition, providing ambience and a space for peaceful contemplation.
“I am interested in the invisible labour which holds up the world,” Tangaere Baldwin said.
Meanwhile, Tangaere Baldwin is among the eight early-career artists, curators and writers selected to take part in the Learning from Venice programme as part of the 61st Venice Biennales international art festival.
“Working independently from Te Tairāwhiti can be quite isolating professionally. Getting the opportunity to attend the Venice Biennale in this way, in a dedicated learning environment with purposeful direction and a group of professional peers to disseminate the experience, is an immense privilege,” she said.
“I want to understand where myself and my peers in Aotearoa sit on the world stage.
“I am interested in the Venice Biennale because of its legacy and status, but I also want to understand it in the context of the political time in which we are living. The idea of national pavilions intrigues me ... who is chosen to represent what and why?”
The group will join co-leaders Christina Barton (independent curator, writer, editor and educator) and Hanahiva Rose (curator contemporary art Te Papa Tongarewa) for the intensive research programme which includes a pre-workshop kōrero with artists and curators, followed by an intensive five-day workshop in Venice coinciding with the Venice Biennale.
On their return, they will collaborate on a publication reflecting on their findings to be published and distributed at a public talk programme later in the year.
