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Wellington Museum | Te Waka Huia O Ngā Taonga Tuku Iho holds taonga Māori collected by George Pain, a late-nineteenth-century businessman based in Martinborough.Unfortunately, the history of these taonga was not documented and they have been sitting silently in the collection store.
We invited Māori artists from Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui (the greater Wellington region) to bring their knowledge to the collection and give life and warmth to these taonga.
The artists have not only enhanced our understanding of the Pain collection, they have also created new works that awhi (support, embrace) selected taonga and kōrero (speak) to the original makers.
This exhibition was developed by Wellington Museum in partnership with Toi Māori Aotearoa – Māori Arts New Zealand.
Ko ngā taonga tuku iho a Te Waka Huia, i whakaemihia e George Pain i te rau tau ki muri. He reo ngū, he kōrero kua ngaro ki rāhaki, takoto noa.
I pōhiritia ngā ringa rehe toi o Te Upoko o Te Ika a Māui ki te whakaoho i te mauri o ngā taonga nei.
Nā te wānanga, me te koi o aua ringa rehe, ka hangaia ngā taonga hou hei hoa mo ngā taonga o nehe kia puawai ano.
He mea tauawhi te whakaaturanga e Te Waka Huia me Toi Māori Aotearoa.
Contributing artists:
Sonia Snowden | Darcy Nicholas | Elaine Bevan and Manu Carkeek | Pip Devonshire | Kohai Grace | Wiremu Grace | Chevron Hassett | Rangi Kipa | Tracey Morgan | Vianney Parata, Kauia Moriarty and Moana Solomon | Tracey Patete | Kura Puke with Stuart Foster, Mike Bridgman, Amber-Jayne Bain and Kurt Komene | Hermann Salzmann | Nui Stretch | Ngatai Taepa | Hinepūororangi Tahupārae | Brett Rangitaawa and Whitireia Reo Wānanga
The artist’s works are inspired by taonga (kete, tewhatewha, mere tangiwai, piupiu, hoe and tao) in Wellington Museum’s collection, collected in the late 19th century/early 20th by Martinborough-based businessman George Pain (1846 -1937).
George was a successful Martinborough-based businessman who collected taonga Māori throughout his life. In his youth he worked as a travelling salesman along the east coast of the North Island. George’s widow Mary Pain donated his collection to Wellington City Council in 1944 and transferred to Wellington Museum in 2004.
There are 35 taonga Māori in the George Pain collection including a wide variety of functional objects such as fishing hooks, stone adzes and knotted wood mallets, with strengths in wooden hand-held weaponry and carved walking sticks.
Te Ohonga features new work by 19 Māori artists and artist collectives who whakapapa to Te Ātiawa, Taranaki, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Raukawa iwi and others. Video interviews with the artists form part of the exhibition, document their responses to the George Pain collection and provide rare glimpses into the wealth of Māori creative spaces in the region.
Saturday 9 December – Sunday 21 July | Open daily 10am – 5pm | Wellington Museum
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
3 Jervois Quay, Wellington, New Zealand 6011, New Zealand