A significant new exhibition of contemporary toi Māori, curated by Queenstown’s Frances Piacun, opens at Country Lane’s Tātai Manawa tonight.

“Te Pūaotanga” is the inaugural exhibition for the new space, and brings together established and emerging Māori artists from across the motu, speaking to “emergence, awakening and the first light of a new day”.

Piacun, who’s worked alongside Tātai Manawa’s creative director Pearl Sidwell and cultural adviser Emily Chirnside, has shaped the exhibition around whakapapa, artist narratives and the connections created between the works, an approach which is fundamental to presenting Māori art through a Māori curatorial lens.

“Te Pūaotanga”, she says, allows whakapapa and narrative to guide how Māori artwork is encountered.

“Each artist brings their own voice, identity and creative practice.

“Their works also speak to one another, creating a larger story about who we are, where we come from and the relationships that sustain us.”

Artists include contemporary Māori-Greek artist Jimmy James Koratoras (Waikato, Ngāti Tiipa), whose practice brings together identity, spirituality and lived experience.

His work has been exhibited internationally, including in New York, Melbourne, Beijing, Brisbane, Chengdu, Aspen, Auckland and Queenstown, and is held in private collections around the world.

Piacun says he’s an “extraordinary artist”, whose work carries whakapapa, wairua and a “deeply-personal creative language”.

“His presence alongside emerging Māori artists reflects the kaupapa of Te Pūaotanga, honouring the strength within toi Māori while creating space for new voices to be seen and supported.”

Alongside a host of other artists, the exhibition also features pieces from Queenstowners Elizabeth Morrison, Christine Te Ruihana Hayes, Pānia Witoko and Anahera Lewis Kemara, and includes O Te Rā, a creative collaboration bringing Māori artistic expression into conversation with French perfumery.

Grounded in te ao Māori and shaped by Whānau Māori o Tāhuna, Tātai Manawa opened in June as a place to gather, create and connect.

It has since become a home for toi, reo Māori, mātauraka, hauora, storytelling, community kōrero and whānau-led kaupapa.

Tātai Manawa lead Karmela Rapata says the new exhibition celebrates the creativity already present and offers a glimpse of a much larger future.

“Extraordinary Māori creativity exists here,” she says.

“‘Te Pūaotanga’ gives artists, curators and whānau the opportunity to shape the whole experience on our terms, from the stories being shared to the way people are welcomed into them.

“For Tātai Manawa, this exhibition creates cultural presence, opportunity and connection, while demonstrating the importance of a lasting kaupapa Māori creative space in Whakatipu.”

The exhibition runs until October 24, and is open for viewing Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10am-3pm; tonight’s opening’s from 6pm-8pm, to RSVP, email kiaora@tataimanawa.com

tracey.roxburgh@scene.co.nz