He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful Of Soil

An expansive new exhibition explores the powerful and lasting connections between people and land in Aotearoa New Zealand.

He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil opens on Saturday 24 August, bringing together a wide variety of historic and contemporary works, including artists’ responses to Te Waipounamu South Island.

Painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, weaving and moving image works are all featured in this complete ‘rehang’ of the upper level of the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū says lead curator Felicity Milburn.

“Some are newly acquired by the Gallery, others are old favourites from our collection, and several have been recently commissioned,” Ms Milburn says. “These include a sculptural installation by senior Kāi Tahu artist Ross Hemera informed by the ana whakairo (Māori rock art) of the Waitaki region, and a new video work by Louise Pōtiki Bryant about Papatūānuku and how whenua (land) is transformed over time by the movement of water.”

He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil begins with a selection of works by contemporary Māori artists, underpinned by concepts of whakapapa and tiakitaka – ancestral connections and guardianship.

“The rooms that follow examine the whenua through many different lenses,” she says. “We have grouped works around themes such as identity and belonging, activism, climate change and land use. Historic events such as the Māori land March, the occupation of Bastion Point and the Kāi Tahu Treaty Settlement are also explored through various art forms.

“In other spaces, the hang brings people up close to mountain and wetland landscapes, creating rich and immersive viewing experiences.”

“He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil reflects on strong connections that exist between takata and whenua – people and land – recognising that these can be felt and expressed in many ways. How we see the land depends on who we are,” Ms Milburn says, “but our relationship with it can also contribute to our values and identity.

“This thread runs strongly through the art history of Aotearoa New Zealand. Works by Ross Hemera and Areta Wilkinson connect us to the first artmakers of this place, through references to Māori taoka and rock art.

“From the peak of Aoraki Mount Cook to the foot of the Otira Gorge, landscape paintings by colonial artists reveal how they viewed and experienced the land in the nineteenth century. Scenes of the Canterbury Plains, the Port Hills, Akaroa, Lake Whakatipu, Kaikōura and Mount Sefton by renowned twentieth century artists like Rita Angus, Colin McCahon and Olivia Spencer Bower continue this story.

“Today, contemporary artists like Robyn Kahukiwa, Emily Karaka, Melissa Macleod, Jimmy Ma’ia’i and John Vea tackle subjects such as environmentalism, guardianship, colonisation and migration,” Ms Milburn says.

“Ranging from the beautiful to the confronting, and from the subtle to the spectacular, they offer new ways of looking at and thinking about the whenua. People shape the land, but it shapes us too, helping to build our sense of who we are.”

He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil opens on Saturday 24 August with a series of free talks: an artist talk by Louise Pōtiki Bryant and Ross Hemera and an artist panel discussion on Arts and Activism. See the Gallery’s website for upcoming events. The exhibition will be on display for two years.

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