Gina Tawhai Matchitt on Māori art’s growing influence

Presently, there is a sense of a shifting tide, a turning to embrace a stronger Māori voice within galleries and museums.

We currently have more Māori in positions of leadership than ever; an area historically totally dominated by Pākehā. We celebrate Māori directors like Karl Chitham at The Dowse, Lower Hutt, and Hiraani Himona at Te Tuhi, Pakuranga. Reuben Friend has recently left as director at Pataka, Porirua, creating space for another Māori or possibly Pasifika director to paddle the waka.

All bring a Māori lens and actively awhi (support) Māori art, artists and curators. Their mana is spreading, trickling down, feeding the karaka seedlings planted sporadically but set to take off.

In recent years significant Māori art milestones have gained recognition. In Pursuit of Venus [infected] by Lisa Reihana at the Venice Biennale 2017 (currently showing at Te Papa), the Toi Tu Tōi Ora 2021 exhibition at Auckland Art Gallery curated by Nigel Borell and the newly opened Wairau Māori Art Gallery, Whangārei.

At Wairau the opening exhibition Puhi Ariki features work by established Māori artists, curated by Borell. Wairau Māori Art Gallery exists physically within the new Hundertwasser Art Centre but functions independently, with a separate board and director. The remit is for Wairau to become the leading public gallery for Māori art - this emphasis is long overdue. I was once told that there wasn’t enough “good contemporary Māori art” by a Pākehā curator. Perhaps they had a different definition of what constitutes “good’’ or weren’t looking in the right places.

Back in the 1990s Te Papa set a bicultural model for the museum sector; a shared directorship between Cliff Whiting and Cheryll Sotheran with dedicated Māori curators and collection managers. Over the past 20 years, the practicality of implementing this model has had its ups and downs. For regional smaller galleries the default argument of budget constraints quelled the establishment of Māori focused positions.

Some of the shift has been gradual, a chipping away at the establishment. But even the controversial rapid restructure of Experience Wellington (Wellington Museums Trust) in 2021, and subsequent shake-up of City Gallery Wellington has opened space for the possibility of a senior Māori curator. It wasn’t so long ago there was a dedicated Māori and Pacific Island curator role at the gallery - that quietly got disestablished.

This is not to specify that Māori curators only deal with Māori art. They advocate for Māori artists and can position their work in conversation with other artists, national and international - including international indigenous art, as Reuben Friend did in that first City Gallery position.

The current Paemanu: Tauraka Toi exhibition at Dunedin Public Art Gallery occupies the foyer and six galleries on the second floor. Paemanu: Ngāi Tahu Contemporary Visual Arts was formed by a group of established Kāi Tahu art professionals, and the exhibition is the culmination of a lengthy collaborative relationship (almost five years) between Paemanu and the gallery. Paemanu wanted to know what the pillars or pou of the public gallery collection were. No Ngāi Tahu artists were included as pou. . Paemanu is a well organised collective; a model for other Māori artist groups to emulate. Their success not only takes work, organisation and funding, but time to develop relationships with established institutions.

Growing recognition of tangata whenua voices and Māori agency within galleries will not mean less for Pākehā, but cultural enrichment, diversity and partnership. It will also encourage and grow Māori audiences who have been overlooked for too long. For Māori in the sector to have autonomy he tika (a correction) is needed. In the past some attempts at incorporating Te Tiriti o Waitangi have appeared to be tokenistic box-ticking. Many institutions are now embracing real change: engaging on many levels in an authentic way. Real partnership will take time but for now let us recognise the tide is turning.

Gina Tawhai Matchitt is a Māori artist, curator and educator.

https://www.paemanu.co.nz/paemanu-projectshttps://dunedin.art.museum/exhibitions/present/paemanu-tauraka-toi/https://www.hundertwasserartcentre.co.nz/about/wairau-maori-art-gallery/