New exhibition showcases work of 10 Gisborne artists at Tairāwhiti Museum

Kai Ngāwari is a new exhibition running at Tairāwhiti Museum and curated by Melanie Tahata. She is pictured with a large embroidered blanket by Ihipera Monowai Whakatataka. Photo / Kim Parkinson

Group exhibition Kai Ngāwari, featuring a mix of paintings, prints, sculpture, weaving and textile art, has opened at Tairāwhiti Museum.

Curated by Gisborne artist Melanie Tahata (Ngāti Uepohatu, Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngai Tāmanuhiri), it has themes of taiao and kaitiakitanga.

Several artists, including Tahata, are members of Gisborne Printmakers group. Others are connected through Rangiwaho Marae (30 kilometres south of Gisborne) such as master weaver Ihipera Monowai Whakatataka, who has a large embroidered wall hanging in the show featuring the faces and names of her ancestors.

Tahata has a fine arts degree from Elam and a Master of Professional Creative Practice from Toihoukura which she completed in 2019.

She works as a graphic artist at Live Creative in Gisborne. She joined Gisborne Printmakers in 2022 and enjoys experimenting with the printmaking process.

The variety of her work in the exhibition shows her versatility - one is a zinc plate etching with aquatint called Iwi Atwa III. She also has a weaving on display and a painted gourd.

Some of her fellow artists in the show, such as Tai Kerekere and Rina Kerekere, also studied at Toihoukura. There are two large paintings done by their teacher Steve Gibbs, Associate Professor at Toihoukura.

At the entrance of the gallery there are three bold charcoal drawings by Rangituhia Hollis (Ngati Porou, Ngati Kahungunu).

These are a contrast to his colourful digital prints, which also feature in the exhibition. Hollis was born in Napier and is now based in South Auckland, where he is a teacher of art and technologies.

The exhibition also includes works by Torri Stewart, Teressa Matthews, Gary Underdown and Jean Johnson.

It runs until March 2026.