Te Tōpana // Te Nekenga is on display in the city centre during Matariki ki te Manawa this June and July. The contemporary installation by Māori artist Hāmiora Bailey using vinyl decals will be displayed on the glass bridge in Commercial Bay.
The inspiration behind the work:
Force and Movement - inspired by the scientific prowess within Māori whakapapa, honouring the expedition of Waka, Te Tōpana // Te Nekenga looks through onamata (eyes of the past), to imagine the urban environment not as brick & mortar but more as uncharted and expansive waters. Defying habitus, this works looks gleefully to te paewai o te moana, knowing that the tides are turning. Through whakapapa we have inherited the resilience of voyageurs: Te Tōpana // Te Nekenga honours the cultural enrichment Te Ao Māori offers and emulates te ngaru whati o te paewai (the breaking waves through the threshold of) the hegemony. This work acknowledges the global need for engaging in indigenous mātauranga to enact greater climate justice, and social good.
About the artist:
Hāmiora Bailey (Ngāti Porou Ki Harataunga, Ngāti Huarere ki Whangapoua) is a Takatāpui, Tangata Ira Rere, Tane Moe Tane interdisciplinary artist & curator. Through public intervention, Bailey uses the technologies of their urban experience to further explore & investigate the multitudes of their tuakiri. Journeying closer into understanding the investitures of their Tangata Whenuatanga, Bailey's work is an honest declaration of their learning. Using pattern systems and line work to communicate the tensions, elasticity, growth and safety of their learning journey. Constantly aiming to curate a greater sense of whakawhānuitanga (common good) Bailey's public exploration of self hopes to reconcile the boundaries and subsequent faculties of urbanite kaitiakitanga, citizenship, and community. Considering manatauritetanga & kotahitanga, Bailey's works reimagines the social topography of Tāmaki Makaurau and the city's cultural memory. Line work and kōwhaiwhai act as self-portraits, depictions of whānau members, landscapes of home, pūrākau, or simply neighbours and passers-by.
Brought to you by Commercial Bay as part of Matariki ki te Manawa.
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