Huritau Exhibition - Kura’s 10th Birthday Celebration!

Kura Gallery Huritau Exhibition September 2008

Kura Wellington 26 September 2008
ANNABELLE BUICK & VICKY THOMAS

New works created by multi media artists Annabelle Buick and Vicky Thomas in celebration of Kura’s 10th Anniversary. These works aim at illustrating the ever expanding expression of contemporary Maori art and design today.
The culture our tupuna (ancestors) brought with them to Aotearoa (New Zealand) formed the foundations of what eventually developed into Maori culture. Applying their creative energies, skills and knowledge to the challenges of a new land, they produced the distinctive art that we know today as Maori art.

Each generation has contributed to the heritage of artforms as they adapted to the new environment and explored new ideas. Their knowledge was passed to the next generation through karakia (prayer), waiata (song), karanga (a ritual call performed by women), moko (tattoo), whakairo (carving), raranga (weaving), haka (traditional dance) and korero (oratory, spoken word) - Toi Maori

These form the heart of Maori art, both traditional and contemporary.

Today, Maori artists are exploring new ideas and adding new forms to Maori art. Traditional artforms are still being created and preserved but contemporary artists are developing innovative new techniques within the styles handed down through the generations.

Excerpted *Nga Toi Maori: Maori art in Aotearoa New Zealand
By Professor Hirini Moko Mead, 1999

Kura Gallery Huritau Exhibition September 2008

ANNABELLE BUICK

Patikitiki series of 3, 2008

(noun) a pattern used on tukutuku panels, kits and mats, originating from the lashing together of framework timbers of houses.
Patikitiki - (Flounder)
Traditional whakairo (pattern) woven with contemporary medium & format.
(red and white high quality tape woven on canvas)

“Maori weaving is full and hidden meanings, embodied with spiritual values and beliefs of the Maori people.”
Erenora Puketapu-Hetet

For Maori, raranga is a living art. The symbolism and hidden meanings are contained in the any patterns, both ancient and modern, used in the many forms of weaving and in the fibres themselves.
Patikitiki series is created using mainly raranga (weaving techniques) with alternative materials. The series of boxed chevron pattern, concentric diamond pattern and the takirua pattern are worked predominantly in takitahi checker work, using alternate red and white colours for both sinistrals and dextrals.

Whakairo series I,II,III & IV, 2008

Framed 3-Dimensional weaving patterned Panels.
(white block compositions)
1. (verb) (-hia) to carve, ornament with a pattern, sculpt.
2. (stative) carved.
3. (noun) carving.
Whakairo series investigates the possibilities of bringing ‘woven pattern’ into a 3 dimensional art form. Each panel comprises of individual units; positioned to create a structured community that support the same idea. Ultimately creating a blueprint (pattern) expressing their existence.
The principle basis of this concept and design derive from the traditional Maori art form raranga (weaving).
Raranga patterns are geometrically woven on a 45 degree angle and they reveal stories which are used teaching aid to pass down knowledge of our culture.
I have chosen white to emphasis the design element of ‘form’. It is subject to the varying degrees of light throughout the day and ultimately – the panels temper on the boundaries of movement, however remains constant.

VICKY THOMAS

Reo rotarota - sign language, 2008

An installation of seven coloured illuminated wall signs with text.
Materials – acrylic and printed vinyl

sign – (noun) something visible or evident that gives grounds for believing in the existence or presence of something else.

language – (noun) a system of terms used by a people sharing a history and culture.

Reo rotarota – sign language - is an installation aimed at highlighting the use of commercial signage as a means of exploring new ways of Maori language expression.
Combining an industrial/commercial based medium such as illuminated signage and downloadable fonts from the world-wide-web, these signs are purposely built to access interior spaces and function as language indicators – it is seen therefore it exists. The text simply states the colour of the sign, all seven colours represent the colour spectrum. The fonts are an indication of cross cultural appropriation - created to seek your attention in the hopes of triggering recognition, familiarity, emotion and identification.
Despite the mass produced elements of these works it is the illumination of the Maori language that indicates the unique and specific ties to Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Kura Gallery Huritau Exhibition September 2008