Fiona Pardington’s exhibition 'Tāku Huia Kaimanawa' will open at MTG Hawke’s Bay Tai Ahuriri on May 20, 2023.
Fiona Pardington’s exhibition 'Tāku Huia Kaimanawa' will open at MTG Hawke’s Bay Tai Ahuriri on May 20, 2023.
Deeply moved to see the devastation that Cyclone Gabrielle brought to Te Matau-a-Māui, celebrated artist Dr Fiona Pardington has donated an artwork to aid in the recovery efforts of her Ngāti Kahungunu iwi.
This artwork is Manawarahi Male Huia MTG Hawke’s Bay (2022), an image from Pardington’s series of huiaphotographs taken at MTG Hawke’s Bay Tai Ahuriri last year.
The artist feels this artwork has a wonderful relationship to the rohe and was the right one to offer up for sale, with the proceeds to go towards Ngāti Kahungunu’s cyclone relief fund.
Not only is the male huia the tohu for Hastings Boys’ and Hastings Girls’ High Schools, but the artwork depicting this huia will be seen for the first time from May 20 when Pardington’s exhibition opens to the public at MTG.
For more than 20 years, Pardington has sought out and photographed taonga of the natural and cultural world held in collections worldwide.
Some 17 years after her first photographs of the now-extinct huia, Pardington came to her iwi rohe, Te-Matau-a-Māui Hawke’s Bay, to photograph huia held in the Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust collection.
In what must now be considered a distinct project, Pardington photographed huia in museum storehouses and private collections, infusing these birds with new presence through exquisite large-scale portraits such as these.
'Manawarahi Male Huia, MTG Hawkes Bay (2022)' by Fiona Pardington.
The sacred huia bird is a powerful reminder of the concept of mana or rangatira. Its symbolic value is emphasised by its unique lineage, setting it apart from other birds in the spiritual realm of Tāne Mahuta.
The illustrious, and sadly extinct, huia is a revered taonga with a strong connection to Ngāti Kahungunu and their rohe. Iwi kaumatua have passed on knowledge, including the following: “Whanahuia is a place in the Ruahine. It means ‘1000 huia birds rising as one from the mountain ranges of Ruahine’. Maungaruru was the effect of the birds rising on the wing, roaring like thunder.”
Alongside the photographs of the taxidermied pair of birds in her MTG exhibition Tāku Huia Kaimanawa, Pardington will show two photographs that show huia feathers also held in the trust’s collection. One of these feathers was once owned by William Colenso.
Pardington has talked of photography as an art of memory and mourning. These haunting photographs mourn the loss of this sacred bird, not by way of laying them to rest, but in such a way that huia are brought into the realm of the living - like treasures returned to the world.
The notion of artists working with museum collections is not new, and this kind of exhibition project provides richness and depth while adding a new interpretative dimension to the material itself.
For those at MTG, Pardington’s visit to the collection was an extraordinary experience. It was great to have the taxidermied birds, a pair of huia and feathers from the collection photographed by an artist of the calibre of Fiona Pardington.
The donated artwork was sold by Starkwhite Gallery a short while after it was put up for sale.
Fiona Pardington’s exhibition Tāku Huia Kaimanawa at MTG Hawke’s Bay Tai Ahuriri will open on May 20, 2023.
