The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata
Ngahuia Harrison
Ana Iti
Nova Paul
Raukura Turei
curated by Christina Barton
06 July – 23 September 2018
The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata featured new and existing work by four Māori women artists—Ngahuia Harrison, Ana Iti, Nova Paul, and Raukura Turei—who explore their relation to and cultural connection with whenua/earth/place. The exhibition was scheduled as the Adam Art Gallery’s contribution to the Suffrage 125 celebrations. We acknowledged that, 125 years ago, Māori women fought and won the right to not only vote for members of the New Zealand House of Representatives, but also to vote and stand as members of the Maori Parliament, Te Kotahitanga.
Ngahuia Harrison (b. 1988, Ngātiwai, Ngāpuhi) is a lens-based artist based in Auckland. She completed her MFA at Elam School of Fine Arts in 2012 and currently is completing a practice-led PhD at the University of Auckland examining how Ngātiwai philosophies can be applied to creative practice. She has undertaken solo projects at Enjoy Public Art Gallery, Wellington (2017); St Paul ST, Auckland (2017), and Blue Oyster Art Project Space, Dunedin (2016).
Ana Iti (b. 1989, Te Rawara) is based in Wellington where she is completing her Master of Fine Arts at Massey University. Since receiving her BFA in Sculpture at Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury in 2012, she has developed a body of work that explores sites and histories using found materials, texts and video to – as she puts it – ‘open space for more subjective experiences and feelings’. She has undertaken residencies in Adelaide and Dunedin and has exhibited her works nationally in artist-run and project spaces, including Window, University of Auckland (2018); Scape Public Art, Christchurch (2017); The Engine Room, Wellington (2017); The Physics Room, Christchurch (2016); North Projects, Christchurch (2016); and Blue Oyster Art Project Space, Dunedin (2016).
Nova Paul (b. 1973, Te Uriroroi/Te Parawhau, Ngā Puhi) is an artist film-maker who lives in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and teaches in the School of Art and Design at AUT. Her film-making practice draws from early cinema, experimental film histories and fourth wave film discourse to consider the poetics and politics of place. Her work has been screened at film festivals and in exhibitions in Aotearoa, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, UK, and USA. Paul also writes about lens-based media. She co-edited PLACE: Local Knowledge and New Media Practice (2008) and a book based on her film, This is Not Dying, titled Form Next to Form Next to Form was published in 2013.
Raukura Turei (b. 1987, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki and Ngā Rauru Kītahi) is an artist, architect, and actor. She graduated from the University of Auckland with a Master of Architecture in 2011 and has worked collaboratively on architectural projects such as Whare in the Bush, Warkworth (2014) and He Whare Tangata, Auckland (2013). She has also undertaken art/design projects, The Grief Series, Miss Crabb HQ, Auckland (2017) and Untitled (pending welcome), Objectspace, Auckland (2017). She presented a suite of drawings, Te poho o Hine-Ruhi, as a Project for the Auckland Art Fair (2018), and her SELF series was shown at Allpress Studio in Auckland (2017).
Highlights of the public programme associated with this exhibition included the one-day symposium on Saturday 7 July: No Common Ground. This symposium addressed histories of feminist art, mana wahine, and queer practice. Hosted at Victoria University of Wellington, it was co-organised with The Dowse Art Museum and Enjoy Public Art Gallery.
Adam Art Gallery also hosted a one-night screening on Wednesday 18 July of eight filmworks by the Cuban-American artist, Ana Mendieta, who in part inspired this exhibition. This screening was introduced by Gabriela Salgado, an expert on Mendieta and artists of the ‘global south’ who is Artistic Director at Te Tuhi in Auckland. This was the first screening of Mendieta’s works in Aotearoa New Zealand. The event was brought to Wellington with assistance from the Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection, LLC and Galerie Lelong & Co., New York.
The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata was made possible through the generous support of the Adam Art Gallery Patrons.
Raukura Turei, Te poho-o-Hine-Ruhi (in situ), 2018, clay, acrylic, water on digital print, 10 x 4m, courtesy of the artist. Installation view, The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2018. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Raukura Turei, Te poho-o-Hine-Ruhi, 2018, three works from a series of five, oil pastel on paper, framed, 73 x 92cm, each, courtesy of the artist. Installation view, The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2018. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Raukura Turei, Te poho-o-Hine-Ruhi, 2018, three works from a series of five, oil pastel on paper, framed, 73 x 92cm, each, courtesy of the artist. Installation view, The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2018. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Raukura Turei, Te poho-o-Hine-Ruhi, 2018 three works from a series of five oil pastel on paper, framed, 73 x 92cm, each, courtesy of the artist. Installation view, The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2018. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Installation view, Raukura Turei in The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2018. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Raukura Turei, Expanse , 2017, diptych, from the Self series oil pastel on paper, framed, 78.5 x 108.5cm, each, courtesy of the artist. Installation view, The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2018. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Nova Paul, This Is Not Dying, 2010, 16mm film, 20 minutes, courtesy of the artist and Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, Wellington. Installation view, The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2018. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Nova Paul, This Is Not Dying, 2010, 16mm film, 20 minutes, courtesy of the artist and Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, Wellington. Installation view, The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2018. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Installation view, Ngahuia Harrison in The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2018. All works are digital prints, courtesy of the artist. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Ngahuia Harrison, Kowhai (mix), 2018, from the Seeds & Shore series, 28.5 x 34cm, digital print. Courtesy of the artist
Ngahuia Harrison, Kuiawai, 2018, 141 x 110cm, digital prints, courtesy of the artist. Installation view, The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2018. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Ngahuia Harrison, E taria ana taku tinana ki te whai I te awa / My body will follow the river, 2018, from the Te Wairahi / The River series, diptych, 26 x 34cm each, digital prints. Courtesy of the artist
Ngahuia Harrison, left: Aunty Reo, 2018, 110 x 88cm, right: E taria ana taku tinana ki te whai I te awa / My body will follow the river 2018, from the Te Wairahi / The River series diptych, 26 x 34cm each, 2018, 141 x 110cm, digital prints, courtesy of the artist. Installation view, The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2018. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Ngahuia Harrison, Puriri, 2018, from the Seeds & Shore series, 28.5 x 34cm, digital print. Courtesy of the artist
Installation view, The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2018. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Installation view, The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2018. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Ngahuia Harrison, Said, with salt in her eye, 2012, 141 x 110cm. Installation view, The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2018. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Ana Iti, Does the brick recall Pukeahu?, 2017, text, acrylic, dimensions variable, courtesy of the artist. Installation view, The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2018. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Ana Iti, Does the brick recall Pukeahu?, 2017, text, acrylic, dimensions variable, courtesy of the artist. Installation view, The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2018. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Ana Iti, Does the brick recall Pukeahu?, 2017, text, acrylic, dimensions variable, courtesy of the artist. Installation view, The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2018. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Ana Iti, Only fools are lonely,2018, hand cut and fired clay, cedar, 10(l) x 2(w) x 1(h)m, with support from Whiti o Rehua School of Arts, College of Creative Arts, Massey University, Wellington. Installation view, The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2018. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Ana Iti, Only fools are lonely,2018, hand cut and fired clay, cedar, 10(l) x 2(w) x 1(h)m, courtesy of the artist, with support from Whiti o Rehua School of Arts, College of Creative Arts, Massey University, Wellington. Installation view, The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2018. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Ana Iti, Only fools are lonely,2018, hand cut and fired clay, cedar, 10(l) x 2(w) x 1(h)m, courtesy of the artist, with support from Whiti o Rehua School of Arts, College of Creative Arts, Massey University, Wellington. Installation view, The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2018. Photo: Shaun Matthews
Robyn Kahukiwa, Tangata Whenua, 1986, 2037 x 2860, oil on canvas. Installation view, The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2018. Photo: Shaun Matthews