Vanessa Wairata Edwards is the curatorial artist at the Huritau exhibition at the Whanganui Community Arts Centre.
Photo / Bevan Conley
Vanessa Wairata Edwards is the curatorial artist at the Huritau exhibition at the Whanganui Community Arts Centre.
Photo / Bevan Conley
Aaron te Rangiao's beautifully carved Fire Stone sculpture stands at the gateway to the Huritau exhibition at the Whanganui Community Arts Centre.
Carved from locally sourced volcanic rock, the sculpture was a receptacle for rainwater this week but when the exhibition opened last Saturday it was a vessel for fire.It served as a welcoming beacon for the 200 people who attended the opening.
"It was filled with methylated spirits and set on fire - it looked amazing," curatorial artist Vanessa Wairata Edwards said.
"We were expecting around 80 people to attend and it was thrilling to see so many turn out on a cold night."
The work of 17 Māori artists, who are either local or whakapapa to the Whanganui region, is on show in the main gallery.
Wairata Edwards said the name of the exhibition Huritau is probably familiar to anyone who has heard "Happy Birthday to You" sung in te reo Māori.
"In the song, 'Huritau' is referring to the anniversary of the person's birth but it also refers to the turning of a year and can refer to any anniversary. As a verb, it speaks to consideration and reflection.
"The show is about marking the new year while reflecting on the year that has passed."
Several of the artworks on show feature Puanga/Mātariki themes and there are recurring circular designs.
As the curatorial artist, Wairata Edwards has invited the other artists to exhibit in her capacity as a member of Te Atinga - the visual arts committee of Toi Māori Aotearoa.
"The national committee wants to expand activity in the regions and promote artists working outside the main cities," she said.
"This is my first project for Te Atinga and I wanted to include established artists like Wi Taepa and Natasha Keating alongside emerging artists."
Most of the artists' names are already familiar to local art followers - Frances Stachl, Tapirioterangi Pirikahu, Tia Ranginui, Tibet Ranginui, Maehe Ranginui, Isiaha Barlow, Hemi Kiwikiwi, Toka Poa, Ngaroma Poa, Rochelle Te Kaho, Cecilia Kumeroa, Gabrielle Belz and Rere Sutherland.
Two of Wairata Edwards' own print works also feature in the exhibition and there are mixed media sculpted works, jewellery, paintings, prints and an audio-visual work by Kumeroa which features a dawn chorus of native birdsong recorded at Bushy Park.
Raukura Naani Waitai's Reporting Back exhibition is on show in the second gallery at the centre.
Photos / Bevan Conley
A number of the artists whose work features in Huritau are graduates of Toioho ki Āpiti Māori Visual Arts at Massey University.
Recent graduate Raukura Naani Waitai's inaugural exhibition Reporting Back is running concurrently with Huritau in the second gallery at the arts centre.
The paintings created during Waitai's studies from 2020 to 2021 relate to narratives that belong to Whanganui, Ngāti Rangi and Ngā Wairiki iwi.
Wairata Edwards said it was an honour to welcome Waitai's first Whanganui show alongside Huritau.
"We make space for her, we acknowledge her, we claim her."
Huritau and Reporting Back will be showing at the Whanganui Community Arts Centre at 19 Taupō Quay until July 26. Hours are 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 1pm on Saturday.
