Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei part-funds new contemporary art exhibition at Auckland Art Gallery

Maungarongo Te Kawa's Celestial Stargate for Invisible People, 2024 (detail). Photo / Jemma Mitchell

Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei is partnering with Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and other donors to bankroll a nationwide art exhibition.

Gallery director Kirsten Lacy told the Herald it is the first time an iwi had funded a nationwide New Zealand contemporary art exhibition.

Opening on July 6, the free exhibition Aotearoa Contemporary will present the work of 27 artists across 22 new projects encompassing painting, textiles, sculpture, ceramics, photography and performance.

Joe Pihema, poumata (head of kaupapa Māori) at the gallery said he was impressed by the support Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei has shown the gallery.

Deputy chairman of the Ngāti Whātua Orakei Trust Ngarimu Blair hopes the triennial exhibition will help Aotearoa grow as a nation

Lacy said the total cost of the exhibition was $478,000. The Chartwell Trust, the Auckland Art Gallery Foundation, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and a group of individual donors are collectively contributing $270,000. The gallery and iwi did not disclose the size of the contribution from Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei.

Through this project, Ngāti Whātua has helped to provide an opportunity for artists who have never been exhibited at the gallery before to be seen by the public and media, Lacy said.

About a third of the artists with work in the exhibition are Māori, a third are Pākehā or Pacifica and a third have Asian backgrounds.

Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust deputy chairman Ngarimu Blair hoped the triennial exhibition would inspire a young generation of diverse artists of all ethnicities and backgrounds.

“That’s what our ancestors wanted, to open up our lands, our harbours, so everyone could find a place,” he told the Herald.

Blair praised the evolution of the gallery, claiming it has been monocultural until recent years.

“We need to keep growing as a nation,” he said.

Image 1 of 6: Ruth Ige, Yoruba woman (year 2031), 2024. Photo / Ruth Ige

The exhibition will recur every three years, giving contemporary New Zealand artists a regular chance to “find a place for themselves”, Lacy said.

People will have until Sunday, October 20 to view the Aotearoa Contemporary exhibition.