Cora-Allan’s Encountering Aotearoa Exhibition Arrives At Waitangi Treaty Grounds

Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi has the privilege to host Cora-Allan’s newest exhibition, Encountering Aotearoa from 23 November 2024 – 25 January 2025.

In her works, artist Cora-Allan (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Tumutumu, Niue – Liku, Alofi) uses whenua pigment, hiapo (barkcloth) and other ngahere (forest) resources to showcase and encapsulate the ideas and techniques she has been developing in depth over recent years.

The conceptualisation of her recent works began through a series of small trips onto the moana. Every painting is constructed with a fresh palette of whenua paint and is guided by her sketches composed during these boat trips. These works introduced narratives from Pacific navigation and first encounters between Māori and Pākehā that would become integral themes of later works.

These concepts were further developed during a longer, two-week journey along the coastline of Aotearoa beginning in Te Waipounamu and ending in Te Tai Tokerau. Whilst on this journey, Cora-Allan and her pāpā, Kelly Lafaiki (Niue – Liku, Alofi) explored and recorded the shapes of the land from the viewpoint of the moana. He documented their journey within a notebook, full of written entries and hand-drawn pictures. Fellow artist, Emily Parr (Ngāi Te Rangi, Moana, Pākehā) captured these intimate interactions between father and daughter within two moving image works that sit alongside the exhibition.

Curator at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, Owen Taituha, said, “We are excited at this opportunity to bring Cora-Allan’s Encountering Aotearoa exhibition to our local community and international visitors. This exhibition complements our permanent exhibitions in Te Kōngahu continuing conversations around important narratives surrounding the enduring importance of Te Tiriti and relationships with the whenua.”

Encountering Aotearoa further develops Cora-Allan’s research into the artists and botanist onboard the Endeavour, critically engaging with and responding to the legacy of colonial mapping and recording practices, as well as exploring narratives of Pacific navigation and Māori and Pākehā encounters. The exhibition showcases a deep understanding of traditional materials like whenua pigment and hiapo, considering the whenua from the point of view of the moana.

The Encountering Aotearoa Exhibition will be open at Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi Exhibition Gallery from 23 November 2024 – 25 January 2025.

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