Tairāwhiti Museum director Tapunga Nepe (left) with curators and artists Tai Kerekere, Kaaterina Kerekere and Nick Tupara at the Hohou te Rongo exhibition running at the museum. Photo / Dudley Meadows
Tairāwhiti Museum director Tapunga Nepe (left) with curators and artists Tai Kerekere, Kaaterina Kerekere and Nick Tupara at the Hohou te Rongo exhibition running at the museum. Photo / Dudley Meadows
A new exhibition at Tairāwhiti Museum Hohou te Rongo marks the siege that took place 160 years ago at Waerenga-a-Hika near Gisborne.
In 1865, 200 colonial troops with 300 Māori allies attacked the pā site where hundreds of Māori families lived.
During the battle, which lasted five days, 71 Māoriliving at Waerenga-a-Hika pā and 11 government soldiers were killed. Many people were wounded, captured and deported to the Chatham Islands.
To mark these reflections of history and time, creatives, storytellers, educators and historians have come together to share their stories, perspectives of past, present and future, through an exhibition of empowerment and identity.
Curated by artists Nick Tupara, Tai Kerekere and Kaaterina Kerekere in collaboration with Tairāwhiti Museum director Tapunga Nepe, it serves as a bridge towards understanding.
The tekoteko was on the house of Te Poho o Rāwiri, overlooking the harbour, which witnessed the colonial forces embarking on their campaign to Waerenga-a-Hika.
Another taonga is the Te Kooti flag dating from 1860 on loan from Nga Uri o Te Kooti Rikirangi.
It is believed this flag accompanied Te Kani Te Ua to Nelson College after he left Waerenga-a-Hika School. The flag offers a tangible connection to Waerenga-a-Hika and the events after the battle.
The Te Kooti flag dating from 1860 is part of the Hohou te Rongo exhibition at Tairāwhiti Museum marking the siege at Waerenga-a-Hika in 1885.
Contemporary artworks include a series of painted fence posts – Ngā Pou Kai-Rangatira by Henare Tahuri – and a digital installation by Kaaterina Kerekere, which takes traditions of the past through kowhaiwhai (painted scroll designs) and presents them using digital motion graphics.
“This connects stories of the past with our present, encouraging a focus on future thinking,” Kerekere said.
Ngā Pou Kai-Rangatira by Henare Tahuri is part of the Hohou te Rongo exhibition on now at Tairāwhiti Museum. Photo / Kim Parkinson
Another large artwork in the exhibition is a collaborative mural done by students at Te Karaka Area School, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Whātatūtū and Te Kura o Pātutahi. The tauira (students) have created artworks based on what they’ve learned about the battle of Waerenga-a-Hika.
The collaborative mural done by students at Te Karaka Area School, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Whātatūtū and Te Kura o Pātutahi is part of the Hohou te Rongo exhibition at Tairāwhiti Museum.
There are old photographs of the aftermath of the siege, as well as maps and a plan of the military settlement of Ormond.
“These create conversations of intention and strategy,” Kerekere said.
“A lot of people, Māori and Pākehā, don’t know what happened at Waerenga-a-Hika, so we wanted to remember this moment in history and stimulate discussion,” Tai Kerekere said.
“We hope that by visiting the exhibition, people will then begin their own family research and be informed about how their own personal histories fit into the big picture.”
There will be public floor talks, wānanga (discussion) with the artists, as well as school visits to explore the history of the November 1865 siege and the political landscape that ignited it.
“What have we learned from what happened back then? Times may have changed, but there is still discord between Māori and Pākehā and within Maoridom”.
Presented in collaboration with Te Aitanga a Māhaki Iwi Trust and supported by Trust Tairāwhiti and Te Runanga o Turanganui a Kiwa, Hohou te Rongo is an exhibition that shares stories of survival, resistance and mana motuhake (self-government).
The exhibition is open for public viewing at Tairāwhiti Museum until March next year.
