Toi o Manukau presents Kawakawa: 12 Responses to the 25th Anniversary of Te Maori, an exhibition of contemporary Maori art at the Mangere Arts Centre.

On September 10, 1984 the largest travelling exhibit of Maori taonga and customary artworks opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, USA. 

Toi o Manukau presents Kawakawa: 12 Responses to the 25th Anniversary of Te Maori, an exhibition of contemporary Maori art at the Mangere Arts Centre.

On September 10, 1984 the largest travelling exhibit of Maori taonga and customary artworks opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, USA. 

The show was simply called Te Maori and was to become a watershed moment and profound milestone in the Maori cultural renaissance of the 1980s.

Guest curator Nigel Borell has invited twelve artists to give a response in their chosen art discipline.

The artists featured are: Chris Bryant, Natalie Couch, Dion Hitchens, Stacy Gordine, Charlotte Graham, Paula Lambert, Hemi Macgregor, Linda Munn, Aimee Ratana, Ngataiharuru Taepa, Saffron Te Ratana and Donna Tupaea.

"Toi o Manukau takes great pride in presenting this exhibition that honours such an important moment in our culture. Kawakawa: 12 Responses to the 25th Anniversary of Te Maori offers a fitting tribute to the watershed exhibition that was Te Maori and the many positive developments it presented for Maori people," says Rose Whaiapu, Chairperson of Toi o Manukau Maori Arts and Culture Trust.

For the Kawakawa exhibition, the selected artists have drawn on their own understandings of Te Maori, to offer works that articulate the importance of this historical exhibition.

An artist’s talk will be held on Friday 4 September at 10am, with participating artist and Maori arts educator Chris Bryant and others, talking about the significance of the event and their works in the show.

The exhibition is presented by Toi o Manukau Maori Arts and Culture Trust with the support of Manukau City Council and with funding from Te Waka Toi, the Maori arts board of Creative New Zealand.