Ngāi Tahu Artists At Queensland Triennial

Paemanu, a Ngāi Tahu contemporary visual arts group from Aotearoa New Zealand, has been readying themselves for the eleventh Asia Pacific Triennial opening in Brisbane on November 30, 2024. Paemanu has been invited to participate in the Triennial alongside more than 300 artists, makers and thinkers from across Australia, Asia and the Pacific. Audiences of the Triennial are expected to exceed 700,000 people.

The exhibition, Paemanu: Awa Toi traces the group's journey along the Waitaki, the sacred river that flows from Aoraki, their ancestral mountain.

“Ngāi Tahu people were travellers, traversing the long coastlines, mountain ranges and waterways across Te Wai Pounamu (the South Island of New Zealand)” reflects Paemanu chair, Kiri Jarden.

“Knowledge of the land, climate, creatures and resources of this long Pacific island followed this way of life and allowed space and time for gathering and preserving and for creativity.”

“We have always been inspired by ana whakairo, the rock art which is found across the island with significant sites in close proximity to our awa, the Waitaki River” says esteemed artist Ross Hemera, pou tokomanawa for Paemanu.

“I grew up there, and spent hours drawing and exploring the ana whakairo as a young fella."

Paemanu formed in 2013 and have exhibited at several major events and art institutions in Te Waipounamu the South Island. In 2015 they exhibited at Te Matatini and in 2021 their exhibition Tauraka Toi saw the group take over the Dunedin Public Art Gallery.

“Ahead of this exhibition in Brisbane, which is our first international project, we asked ourselves, how do we act as good manuhiri (guests) when visiting another land?” says Jarden.

“We want to acknowledge the Turrbal and Yaggera peoples, the original custodians of Brisbane, and find the things that connect us-the land and the river while also sharing some of those things which are important to us like whakapapa, mahinga kai, manaakitanga and kai hau kai.”

Paemanu: Awa Toi will feature work from over 40 Ngāi Tahu artists.

The eleventh annual Asia Pacific Triennial runs from November 30th – April 27th 2025 at the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA)

Salient Details:

Paemanu Ngāi Tahu Contemporary Visual Arts is a kin group of Māori artists who descend from Kāi Tahu, the principal tribe of Te Waipounamu, the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Paemanu: Awa Toi at the 11th Asia Pacific Triennial consists of four projects: Karaka: Sculptural installation by the wāhine (women) of Paemanu. Tīrewa: Collaborative installation based on customary food gathering practices.

Hīkoi: A collaborative two-channel video installation documenting the journey from the mouth of the Waitaki river to the foot of Aoraki.

Ana Whakairo: Hand-drawn installation based on customary Kāi Tahu practice of rock art.

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