Two Toi Māori Exhibitions Merge Traditional Art Forms With New Technology

This summer, visitors to Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga – Hastings Art Gallery can immerse themselves in two new exhibitions of Toi Māori, which explore contemporary storytelling. Expect to see glittering surfaces, intricate designs and artworks made with new technologies and unconventional materials.

He Pānui: Te Ara Hihiko and In Good Relation: Maioha Kara both open on Saturday 23 November.

He Pānui is the work of local collaborators Jacob Scott (Ngāti Raukawa, Te Arawa, Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Āti Awa) and Jason Kendrick. Te Ara Hihiko, the name the duo give their collaborative efforts, refers to “the creative pathway” and operates at the intersection of art, design, architecture and craft.

This exhibition explores how traditional artistic methods, such as whakairo, can be carried forward using new technologies and reused materials. It includes works with a new plastic product made from recycled commercial fishing nets, which takes on the appearance of pounamu, and rimu panels from old colonial homes. The designs are made in a computer application and programmed to a CNC router which cuts the digital design into wood.

“We have an affinity with certain materials as a culture,” Scott says.

“Our story is about acknowledging the life that these materials have had but giving them new life. That theme is a strong one right throughout our show.”

Maioha Kara (Ngāti Korokī Kahukura, Ngāti Tipa, Te Ātihaunui-a-Papārangi, Tūhourangi, Te Whānau a Hinetapora, Kuki Airani) is an emerging artist based in Te-Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington.

In Good Relation is an exhibition of new and existing work. Kara uses whakapapa as a lens to reveal the connections between people, te taiao, and the very beginnings of creation.

Her work taps into a vast archive of geometries, forms and materials that trace these connections. Referencing her father Eugene’s artistic practice, as well as Māori and Kuki Airani art forms (such as whakairo rākau, raranga, tukutuku, kōwhaiwhai and tīvaevae), Kara excavates patterns into timber forms. Native timbers echo human connection to the natural world, while coloured glitter embodies the concept of iraira (to shine), the energy of light and the mauri of all things.

Like Scott and Kendrick, Kara also uses digital design software and CNC routers which are programmed to cut into the wood.

In Good Relation is a reprisal of an exhibition held at Pātaka Art + Museum in Porirua earlier this year.

“We are very happy to present Maioha’s mahi toi here in Heretaunga and to be working with Pātaka curator Ioana Gordon-Smith to reprise In Good Relation, featuring a new work from Maioha for the occasion,” Gallery Director Sophie Davis says.

“The relationship between the two exhibitions, bridging generations, is special and there will be something for everyone.”

Both exhibitions close on Saturday 29 March, 2025.

© Scoop Media