Tapu in modern world explored

CHALLENGING: Vanessa Edwards (left) and Tia Ranginui are pushing boundaries with their art. PICTURE / PAUL BROOKS

Vanessa Edwards and Tia Ranginui have touched a range of emotions and received many different reactions with their exhibition at Space Gallery - Hine Noa Tapu.
Finishing on July 1, the exhibition is well worth seeing before it closes.
Confronting, strong, disturbing, challenging, refreshing - it could be any of these things, depending on your perspective, upbringing and ... yes ... race.
Tia's photography and Vanessa's scraffito have combined in an exhibition that looks beyond the obvious, asking questions - how relevant is tapu in a modern context?
"It's an idea that Tia has been working with for a while, what we call a serious violation of tapu," says Vanessa. "It's like an ongoing series and it comes from a quote by Margaret Mutu, head of Maori Studies at Auckland University - Women could not go into the garden, on to the beach or in the kitchen when they were menstruating, she said. 'It's a very serious violation of tapu for women to do those things while menstruating. Women cannot have anything to do with the preparation of food while they are menstruating.'
"So I asked all my friends who are Maori and still menstruating, my age and younger, if they followed those protocols. Basically, I couldn't find anyone that did."
Vanessa explained that complying with old ideas of tapu, especially those surrounding menstruation, would cut out cooking for one's children, holding a range of jobs - so many things.
"So this is exploring the relevance, significance and understanding of tapu in modern Maori society. I think tapu is a fluid thing and that it needs to change with the times."
The artworks look at specific protocols like touching human hair and keeping tea towels and food away from your head, as well as much more. Both women agree that some tapu protocols still have relevance, based as they are on common sense and hygiene. "Tikanga is something that is designed to uphold the values of the culture, to ensure people aren't offended or hurt, to ensure safety in the relationship between people, so if you know your protocols you know where you should and shouldn't be, what you should and should not be doing, you're not going to cause offence and it helps everyone to get along. Nowadays it's used more on the marae as rules that must be upheld, still for relationship reasons. But in modern society there are so many forms of tikanga; there's Maori tikanga, but we live with another form of tikanga, the Western kind," says Vanessa.
She says society has its own rules in the form of etiquette, regardless of race. But as a woman, more specifically, a Maori woman, people still make judgments and expect certain behaviour.
"So we're exploring and thinking about those ideas," she says. "The works are challenging because the whole concept is challenging, for us as women living in a modern world. Although it's a heavy concept, we wanted to have fun looking at it. It's not just about tapu, it's about noa as well, and noa is being free of tapu, unrestricted." Although tapu and noa are opposites, they exist side by side. Because tikanga is embedded in Maori mythology, some of the works address those ancient stories and protocols. "Some people might not agree with what we're saying," says Vanessa. "But that's okay, it's a discussion. We're not saying this is how it should be; we're just talking about it."