New Exhibition By Leading Ceramicist Tracy Keith Reflects Pulp And Paper Industry Communities

A new exhibition at Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga Hastings Art Gallery explores the stories of those who have worked and lived alongside the pulp and paper industry in Aotearoa, a timely reflection after the recent closure announcement of two mills in the Central North Island.

Tracy Keith is one of the country’s leading Māori ceramicists. His new solo exhibition, Remember Industry will open this Saturday, 14 September, and close on Saturday, 1 February next year.

In Remember Industry, Keith (Ngāpuhi) explores a vast realm of connections between people and te taiao (the natural world). Keith looks to the whakapapa of natural materials like clay and timber that have shaped human lives, meaning, and livelihoods.

Remember Industry also reflects on Keith’s experiences growing up with his grandfather in Tokoroa, who worked at the local pulp and paper plant.

Keith says this is timely, given the confirmation of the two Winstone Pulp International mill closures in the Central North Island this week.

“It’s what part of the exhibition is about, it’s heartbreaking for that community,” Keith says.

“We follow industry…the factories are in the community and then all of a sudden, the industry downsizes and we end up splitting up.”

Keith’s art practice also processes the wider, ongoing impact of the “urban drift”, a significant historical moment post-World War II, when large groups of Māori moved from their tūrangawaewae to urban centres and townships in the pursuit of paid work.

Keith juxtaposes machine-like forms with ancient and hands-on processes. His clay sculptures are formed through rough, direct manipulation and experimentation with clay. Keith uses a modern version of a 500-year-old Japanese raku firing process, where ceramics are heated to extremely high temperatures, removed from the kiln, and placed in combustible materials. This chemical reaction creates unpredictable effects and molten, metallic glazes.

Keith lives and works in Heretaunga Hastings, where he is Kaiako - Maunga Kura Toi Rauangi, at Toimairangi School of Māori Visual Art, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.

He has exhibited widely within Aotearoa New Zealand at galleries such as The Dowse Art Museum, Pātaka Art + Museum, Bartley & Company Gallery, Wairau Māori Art Gallery, and Tim Melville Gallery.

Remember Industry is Keith’s first solo exhibition in Heretaunga Hastings – and there are a number of other firsts for him too.

“This is the first exhibition I’ve had in a public gallery where I’m showing both ceramics and oil paintings,” Keith says.

“I haven’t painted a body of work since the early 2000s, so I’m excited to see how people react.”

Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga Hastings Art Gallery director Sophie Davis says it has been “really exciting” working towards Keith’s first solo exhibition in a public gallery.

“Tracy has mostly been exhibiting in Auckland and Wellington in recent years – so we are particularly looking forward to seeing his Heretaunga community, including his students, enjoy this exhibition.”

As with all exhibitions at Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga, Remember Industry will be free to attend and open to all.

An opening will be held this Friday, September 13, from 5.30pm.

• For more information on Remember Industry, please go to https://www.hastingscityartgallery.co.nz/exhibitions/article/572/remember-industry-tracy-keith-

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