Tātai Tuarangi, Star Seeds, Sound Waves and Ceremonies

Tātai Tuarangi: Star Seeds, Sound Waves and Ceremonies gathers together practices attuned to the sky - to lunar time, celestial movement, seasonal transitions and the vastness of the cosmos.  By chance, the exhibition period of Tātai Tuarangi, crosses into the season of Matariki, the rising of the star cluster that signals both an astronomical event and a cultural observance grounded in remembrance, collective reflection and renewal.  The works of Albert Refiti, Ana Iti, Mara TK, Megan Brady and Saffronn Te Ratana unfold within this moment of heightened celestial awareness. Together, their offerings move between sound, installation, drawing, sculpture and research, to consider astral and planetary forces, rhythms and cycles, and human connection and relationships. 

Each work or body of works is distinct, but collectively they converge around shared concerns including; the shaping of time and space, the movement of the moon and the stars, and threads of relational connection that bind the body with land, the sea, the universe and with each other.  Underpinning these practices is a focus on the transmission of ancestral knowledge through contemporary art practice, sound,  contemporary scholarship and thought.

 Integral to the exhibition is the reproduction of a local maramataka attributed to Mita Te Tai of Rāwhiti, created in the early 20th century.  Grounded in local knowledge of lunar phases and their influence on fishing and mahinga kai (food gathering) practices, the maramataka was first published in 1918 by Elsdon Best in the Dominion Museum Bulletin No.12.  The presence of the maramataka is unassuming but foundational, anchoring Tātai Tuarangi in mātauranga Māori specific to Te Tai Tokerau, and affirming the continuity of cosmological and environmental knowledge generationally.

Tātai Tuarangi: Star Seeds, Sound Waves and Ceremonies is curated by Megan Tamati-Quennell with Assistant Curator, Taniora Erihana Tamati-Rakete.