The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata
Ngahuia Harrison
Ana Iti
Nova Paul
Raukura Turei

7.7.18 – 23.9.18

Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi is pleased to present The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata, our latest exhibition featuring new and existing work by four Māori women artists—Ngahuia Harrison, Ana Iti, Nova Paul, and Raukura Turei—who explore their relation to and cultural connection with whenua/earth/place. Curated by Christina Barton, the exhibition has been scheduled as the Adam Art Gallery’s contribution to the Suffrage 125 celebrations. We acknowledge that, 125 years ago, Māori women fought and won the right to not only vote for members of the New Zealand House of Representatives, but also to vote and stand as members of the Maori Parliament, Te Kotahitanga.

Ngahuia Harrison (Ngātiwai, Ngāpuhi) is a lens-based artist based in Auckland. She completed her MFA at Elam School of Fine Arts in 2012 and currently is completing a practice-led PhD at the University of Auckland examining how Ngātiwai philosophies can be applied to creative practice. She has undertaken solo projects at Enjoy Public Art Gallery, Wellington (2017); St Paul ST, Auckland (2017), and Blue Oyster Art Project Space, Dunedin (2016).

Ana Iti (Te Rawara) is based in Wellington where she is completing her Master of Fine Arts at Massey University. Since receiving her BFA in Sculpture at Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury in 2012, she has developed a body of work that explores sites and histories using found materials, texts and video to – as she puts it – ‘open space for more subjective experiences and feelings’. She has undertaken residencies in Adelaide and Dunedin and has exhibited her works nationally in artist-run and project spaces, including Window, University of Auckland (2018); Scape Public Art, Christchurch (2017); The Engine Room, Wellington (2017); The Physics Room, Christchurch (2016); North Projects, Christchurch (2016); and Blue Oyster Art Project Space, Dunedin (2016).

Nova Paul (Te Uriroroi/Te Parawhau, Ngā Puhi) is an artist film-maker who lives in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and teaches in the School of Art and Design at AUT. Her film-making practice draws from early cinema, experimental film histories and fourth wave film discourse to consider the poetics and politics of place. Her work has been screened at film festivals and in exhibitions in Aotearoa, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, UK, and USA. Paul also writes about lens-based media. She co-edited PLACE: Local Knowledge and New Media Practice (2008) and a book based on her film, This is Not Dying, titled Form Next to Form Next to Form was published in 2013.

Raukura Turei (Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki and Ngā Rauru Kītahi) is an artist, architect, and actor. She graduated from the University of Auckland with a Master of Architecture in 2011 and has worked collaboratively on architectural projects such as Whare in the Bush, Warkworth (2014) and He Whare Tangata, Auckland (2013). She has also undertaken art/design projects, The Grief Series, Miss Crabb HQ, Auckland (2017) and Untitled (pending welcome), Objectspace, Auckland (2017). She presented a suite of drawings, Te poho o Hine-Ruhi, as a Project for the Auckland Art Fair (2018), and her SELF series was shown at Allpress Studio in Auckland (2017).

Highlights of the public programme associated with this exhibition include the one-day symposium on Saturday 7 July: No Common Ground. This symposium addresses histories of feminist art, mana wahine and queer practice. Hosted at Victoria University of Wellington, it is co-organised with The Dowse Art Museum and Enjoy Public Art Gallery.

Adam Art Gallery is also hosting a one-night screening on Wednesday 18 July of eight filmworks by the Cuban-American artist, Ana Mendieta, who has in part inspired this exhibition. This screening is introduced by Gabriela Salgado, an expert on Mendieta and artists of the ‘global south’ who is currently Artistic Director at Te Tuhi in Auckland. This is the first screening of Mendieta’s works in Aotearoa New Zealand. The event is brought to Wellington with assistance from the Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection, LLC and Galerie Lelong & Co., New York.

For the full public programme click here.

The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata has been made possible through the generous support of the Adam Art Gallery Patrons. If you wish to become a Patron click here.

Image credit (above): Ngahuia Harrison, detail of Said with salt in her eye, 2011, digital print, 630 x 790 mm, courtesy of the artist

Robyn Kahukiwa, Tangata Whenua, 1986, acrylic on canvas, Victoria University of Wellington Art Collection, accessioned 2009, formerly Wellington College of Education Collection

Tangata Whenua, 1986, the important painting by Robyn Kahukiwa in Victoria University’s Art Collection, has been installed in the Adam Art Gallery’s window gallery to coincide with The earth looks upon us / Ko Papatūānuku te matua o te tangata. In its painterly assertion of the unalienable link between people and the land, this work serves to welcome the artists in our current exhibition into our space.