A new large-scale sculptural installation by Ōpōtiki-based Māori artist and weaver, Tangimoe Clay, opens this Saturday at 4 pm, with a reception at Te Kōputu a te whanga a Toi — Whakatāne Library and Exhibition Centre. The exhibition, titled Mataraupō, will offer audiences an ‘illusion of the past’ and feature work and natural materials sculpturally hung throughout the main gallery.
“Together, all of the elements create movement in the room – offering a dance that connects the past, present and the future,” says Victoria Sinclair, Museum and Arts Exhibitions Coordinator.
The installation illuminates the journey of raupō – a perennial wetland plant found at the edges of lakes and streams – from its origins as a fundamental material of early Māori life. Mataraupō brings the viewer into an immersive environment of forms crafted using traditional raranga (weaving) techniques and natural materials such as raupō, hunehune, harakeke, whitau and toetoe. While raupō whare may have disappeared in the 1800s, raupō can still be seen today on the East Coast, lining the inside of wharekai and wharenui.
“Experienced as a work of contemporary art, this room-size installation reveals an act of remembrance,” says Whakatāne Museum and Arts Director Eric Holowacz. “There is an otherworldly quality to the artist’s combination of manu tukutuku (kites), kakahu (cape) and poi raupō. The idea of the past is part of this dance, living within the simple yet profound visual statements and organic materials.”
Though Clay is an internationally exhibiting artist, just in this past year she has shown in exhibitions across New Zealand. These include the national exhibition, The Real Ōpōtiki, earlier this year; and in 2016, Toi Māori Market and the local exhibition, Arts Revealed. She was the recipient of the Molly Morpeth Canaday 3D local Merit award in 2016. Artists like Clay continue to keep the traditional practices of weaving alive, while generating new interest in traditional Māori creative forms.
Mataraupō will be on view from 9 December to 4 February and is complemented by a complimentary catalogue available at Te Kōputu a te whanga a Toi — Whakatāne Library and Exhibition Centre. The public is invited to meet the artist and celebrate her work at the opening ceremony with special guests Kaikarakia - Ringatū and Nándor Tánczos, Councillor for Whakatāne District Council this Saturday from 4 pm. Anthony Davies’ exhibition “As the Situation Unfolds”, will open alongside Mataraupō.
Find out more about Mataraupō on the Whakatāne Museum website »