Matrilineal
Written by
Matrilineal
1 April – 4 May 2022
Street Front Gallery
Tui Emma Gillies, Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows & Aroha
Heilala Gillies
‘Uhila Nai
Jalaina Hitchen
Loleni Selesele
Salle Tamatoa & Tunaga Funaki
Across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, the Great Ocean of Kiwa or Pacific Ocean*, intergenerational knowledge-sharing is central to the art forms sustained and activated by women. Matrilineal is an opening for artists who inhabit spaces created by their female ancestors, whether through the inheritance of weaving techniques and visual histories, the collective practice of making ngatu (Tongan tapa cloth), or expressions of feminine empowerment. Featuring taonga made across a variety of media, each artform in this space embodies narratives which span ancient and immediate links to the women of previous generations.
*Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan named these waters the Pacific Ocean in 1520.
Exhibition webpage