New Exhibition By Cindy Huang Explores Narratives Of Chinese Market Gardeners In Hawke’s Bay

Cindy Huang hopes her new work will help locals appreciate the important role of Chinese market gardeners in Te Matau-a-Māui.

Offering, an installation by Huang, will be on display in the foyer at Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga – Hastings Art Gallery from tomorrow, Saturday 19 October, until February 1 next year.

Offering reflects Huang’s research into the Tauiwi Chinese New Zealand community in Te Matau-a-Māui, both past and present, with a focus on the region's market gardens, gardeners, and grocers. Due to a notable absence of recorded accounts in local and national museums and repositories, she has primarily relied on oral histories from within the community to piece together a picture of their lives, contributions, and labours.

The installation, on a circular plinth, features handcrafted incense made from sandalwood blended with dried fruit powder, along with bronze casts of citrus peels and apple cores that serve as incense holders. All of these elements are produced from fruit sourced from Onekawa Fruit Shop, a local Chinese New Zealand family business.

They are carefully arranged, evoking the forms associated with ancestral shrines—a reflection of the traditional Chinese custom of filial piety, which encompasses acts of remembrance and respect for both the living and deceased. Typically accompanied with offerings of fresh fruit, the ritual of burning incense creates a sanctified and cleansed space that bridges the past with the present, allowing one to connect with their ancestors and memories.

“In Aotearoa, we have an abundance of monuments dedicated to ‘great’ figures and prominent people – even if you think of the street names of Hawke’s Bay and across the country,” Huang says.

“Many are named after colonial figures situated here, as well as those who were involved with the East India Company. There’s plenty of recognition of these figures and little acknowledgment of others. So I feel a lot of my practice is about bringing to light the contributions of the Chinese community.”

Huang says the incense in the installation will be lit once a day around lunchtime and describes it as having a “natural, earthy” smell.

Huang was born in Rotorua in 1997 and is based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. In 2023-24 she was based in Heretaunga Hastings. She holds a Master of Heritage Conservation in Museums and Cultural Heritage (2022), and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) (2019), from the University of Auckland.

Her work has been exhibited across Aotearoa in recent years, with recent solo and collaborative projects presented at Sumer, Te Atamira, Satellites, Chez Derriere, Studio One Toi Tū, and Meanwhile.

The Gallery’s Assistant Curator Kurumi Kido hopes the installation will help “reflect on the often-overlooked industries that have silently supported our lives in the region”.

“It has been truly inspiring to witness Cindy’s ideas evolve into this poetic work, crafted with such thoughtful materials and methods. I’m excited to see how this installation will ignite conversations about the Tauiwi Chinese New Zealand community among our audience.”

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