Matariki Tuhono ki te Taiao

Taking the phrase ‘i ngā wā ō mua – to turn to the times of the past’ as a starting point, this exhibition looks to Māori conceptualisations of time as event-based and non-linear, as being guided by subtle changes and patterns in the environment. Epitomising such interconnection with te taiao, the natural world, the appearance of Puanga and Matariki clusters of whetu (stars) in the early winter skies signal a shift in the seasons; traditionally prompting harvests, hākari (feasts), the preservation of kai for the colder months, and the planting of new crops.

This year we are joined by a range of multi-disciplinary ringatoi (artists) who each engage with te taiao and Te Ao Māori through raranga (weaving), whakairo or carved objects, paintings, and more. Depot Artspace’s Puanga – Matariki exhibition and associated events will take place as part of the Indigenous Ecology and Arts Wānanga, co-curated by Natanahira Te Pona of local ecology group Restoring Takarunga Hauraki.

We’ll also be hosting a closing celebration event on Saturday 25 June from 1-4pm. Refreshments will be provided.

About the Artists:

Natanahira Te Pona (Co-curator, Artist)

Wiremu Taniwha Kingi rauauko Ngahuia Retimana oku tipuna ki te taha ko taku Matua

Rangi Herewaka Rata rauako Paiahua Karena oku tipuna ki te taha ko taku whaea

Ko Tutete Taniwha Kingi rauauko Mailie Rata oku maatua

Nga Puhi, Tu Wharetoa, Ngati Awa, Te Aopouri, Ngati Raukawa, Ngati Porou, Te Arawa oku Iwi

Ko Matangirau, Mangamuka, Hirangi, Tunohopu oku marae.

Born and bred in Tūrangi, Natanahira Pona explores the world of Te Ao Māori as a skilled wood sculptor. He graduated from Rotorua’s Māori Arts and Crafts Institute, leaving to work with councils, schools, local businesses and private institutions. His commissions span from monuments to whakairo-inspired community shelters invigorated by his technical skills.

Te Pona shares his cultural knowledge, attending symposiums across Aotearoa New Zealand as well as representing Aotearoa in the 2016 Nepal World Wood Symposium. Currently Natanahira is a kaiako at Lake House Art Centre as a resident carver.

Ngahiwi Walker

Ko Te Whetu – matarau te maunga 

Ko Awatere te awa

Ko Horouta te waka 

Ko Ngati porou te iwi

Ngahiwi started whakairo (carving) in 2003 because someone he knew had  a traumatic experience. He wanted to do something for them, so he carved a ‘Pou’. The family was taken away – breathless – by it, and very grateful. Ngahiwi’s first carvings were gifts for family members whose lives had been affected in some way by birth or death; since then, he has been carving pūrākau (stories) that he remembers from way back. His influences include pūrākau handed down by elders, birth, and death, and he particularly likes to carve natural looking wooden shapes such as logs and posts.

Luis Cabrera

Luis Cabrera was born in Mexico City and at the age of 18, he won a scholarship to study at a University in Italy. He studied International Relations and at the same time Culinary Arts. While working in Venice, He learned the vegetable Carving art of Mukimono. Working around the world as a chef (Mexico, US, Ireland, Italy, Australia and Central America) he always liked to add Aztec influences to his cooking and also as part of large buffet decorations for special events. 

Cabrera arrived in NZ in 2008, and since then has been a big admirer of the art of Maori Carving (Whakairo). As soon as he got the opportunity to learn, he took it and was lucky enough to be trained by Master Carver Natanahira Pona. He always allowed/encouraged Luis to reflect his Aztec heritage in his carvings.

Levi Kereama

Ko Maungatautari taku maunga

Ko Waikato taku awa

Ko Ngati Manomano taku hapu 

Ko Ngati Raukawa taku iwi 

Ko Taumata o te Ra taku marae

Ko Tainui taku waka

Ko Levi Kereama taku ingoa

Levi Kereama is a 20 year old emerging artist from the North Shore. Levi has always drawn and painted from a young age however it is in the past three years that he has been working consistently, exploring his craft and studying the work of artists he admires such as Gauguin and William A Sutton. Levi’s preferred medium is oil on canvas and he has mainly been painting portraits and figures in landscape. It is only in recent times that Levi has begun to sell his work and take commissions. This is Levi’s first time exhibiting his works and he has enjoyed exploring his own understanding of Matariki.

Ngaroma Riley

Te Rarawa, Te Aupouri

Grateful that her grandmother taught her to weave taniko and sew at a young age, Ngaroma has been a compulsive maker ever since. One obsession that has never left her, is her love of whakairo. Unable to find anywhere to study it in Aotearoa, she began her carving journey in Japan making buddhist statues. Since returning to NZ in 2020 she has completed a certificate of whakairo at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, and is excited to be part of the Toi Māori Aotearoa Whakakai Mentoring Programme, a cohort of wahine Māori artists working in three-dimensions. She is currently living the dream working with a team of ringa toi/kai whakairo on a tomokanga to be installed near her papakainga in Kaitaia.

Te Kahuwhero Alexander-Tu’inukuafe

Ngapuhi, Ngai Tawake ki te tuawhenua, Ngati Rehia, Te Whiu

Te Kahuwhero Alexander Tu’inukuafe is a Maori (Ngapuhi) and Tongan artist from Te Tai Tokerau, Aotearoa. After graduating with a Master of Architecture (Professional) from The University of Auckland in 2014, she has been working as a librarian in Aotearoa and Melbourne, Australia. Her work has been exhibited in both Aotearoa and Australia. Recent awards include being selected as the first prize winner of the Small Works Art Prize 2022 (Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne) and the Environment Award at the EGAG WRAP 2021 Small Artwork Prize (East Gippsland Art Gallery, Bairnsdale).

Katie Isla Middleton

Mā te huruhuru ka rere te manu – Adorn the bird with feathers so it may soar

Kathryn Isla Middleton is a Master of Fine Arts graduate of Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland. Her art practice is largely driven by process and functionality focusing on sculpture through cordage. She is a passionate cross-cultural artist mostly informed by Māori material methodologies and her own tauiwi heritage. 

Kathryn’s kaupapa for Matariki Tuhono ki te Taiao entails weaving sculpture out of harakeke, tī kōuka, and pīngao. Kathryn’s work is a celebration of cordage – its strength, versatility, flexibility and interconnecting, fastening functionality. The knowledge she is using and informed by has been handed down from generation to generation. It is nourished through practice and through reciprocation by showing respect to the tikanga, sustainability, and engagement with tangata whenua.

While the process of creating the installation has been solitary, intuitive and investigative, it is also social and collaborative as it is informed by mātauranga Māori. A significant collaborative relationship throughout Kathryn’s practice has been Dante Bonica. Other collaboratives are Nikau Hindin, Arapeta Ashton, Matiu Bartlett, Ara Ariki Houkamau, Atareta Black, Feeonaa Clifton, Ani O’Neill, and Abigail Aroha Jensen. Ngā mihi nui ki a tātou ki te tautoko o te mahi toi.