Art Exhibitions: Toka Tū | Kawe Mate | E hoki mai nei ki te ūkaipō/Return to Your Place of Nourishment

Te Kōputu a te whanga a Toi: Whakatāne Art Gallery is pleased to be hosting three toi Māori exhibitions. Join us to enjoy these three exhibitions in their second iterations, evolving within a new context while continuing to honour resilience, memory, and the transformative power of Toi Māori.

Toka Tū
 
Sandy Adsett, Gabrielle Belz,  June Grant, Alex Nathan, James Ormsby, Donn Ratana, Baye Ridell, Wi Taepa, Allen Wihongi.

Curated by Margaret Aull.
 
Toka Tū speaks to resilience, strength, and the enduring role of artists who shape and uphold the legacy of Toi Māori. The artists featured in this exhibition have been pivotal in forging a contemporary Māori aesthetic—one that honours mātauranga Māori while embracing new materials, perspectives, and evolving narratives.

Navigating the challenges of the mainstream art world, these artists evolved the boundaries of Māori artforms, expanding their reach and relevance. As educators, mentors, and knowledge holders, they ensure the transmission of artistic practice to future generations. Toka Tū acknowledges their lifelong dedication and celebrates their enduring influence on the next wave of Toi Māori practitioners.

Kawe Mate
 
Te Kira Whakamoe
 
Kawe Mate by Te Kīra Whakamoe (Tūhoe, Ngāti Ruapani) continues its journey to Te Kōputu a te whanga a Toi – Whakatāne Gallery, offering a second iteration of this powerful body of work. Originally commissioned in partnership with Hastings Art Gallery and the Gwen Malden Charitable Trust, this move brings the exhibition closer to home. Kawe Mate is a deeply personal reflection on loss and survival, tracing the journey of her own whakapapa. Through an immersive installation of pelts, bones, handmade kites, and the sounds of Rūātoki, the work creates a space for remembrance, confronting histories of trauma and endurance. Kawe Mate remains an act of remembrance and resistance, asking us to bear witness and consider how these histories continue to shape our present.

E hoki mai nei ki te ūkaipō | Return to Your Place of Nourishment

Hollie Tawhiao, Aisha Roberts, Maraea Timutimu, Aimee Ratana.

Curated by Hawea Apiata.

E hoki mai nei ki te ūkaipō | Return to Your Place of Nourishment brings together works by four wāhine Māori artists, exploring narratives of pakanga | conflict through toi | art. This exhibition creates a space for dialogue, where the artworks both reflect on and challenge the ongoing economic and political turbulence of our time.

Through their diverse yet interconnected practices, the artists weave together stories of whānau and hapū, confronting histories shaped by conflict, survival, and resistance. Their works interrogate the political strategies that have long exploited division and discord, highlighting the ways in which curated histories have shaped the present.

At its core, this exhibition is an act of reclamation—where descendants, living in the aftermath of their ancestors’ mamae | pain, assert agency over their own narratives, honouring the strength and endurance of those who came before.

All images taken by Claire House Photography.