Paemanu: Ngāi Tahu contemporary visual arts, now showing at DPAG

The summer of 2021-22 has a been a unique time to visit the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. All aspects of the Gallery programme – from contemporary art to historical collections – are reflections of our relationship with Paemanu: Ngāi Tahu contemporary visual arts. This is an historic moment for the institution, expanding the stories we tell while upholding the legacy of Aotearoa’s oldest public art collection.  

Alumni of Dunedin School of Art feature prominently across these exhibitions. He reka te Kūmara explores matauranga Māori though mahi toi, waiata and pūrakau, co-developed by four curators including Piupiu Maya-Turei (Ngāti Kahungunu, Rangitāne, Te Ātihaunui-a-Pāpārangi), Aroha Novak (Ngāi te Rangi, Tūhoe, Ngāti Kahungunu), Madison Kelly (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Mamoe), and Mya Morrison-Middleton (Ngāi Tūāhuriri, Ngāi Tahu). Piupiu, Aroha and Madison are all alumni of Dunedin School of Art.

A major exhibition spanning all the first floor Galleries, Paemanu: Tauraka Toi – A Landing Place features newly commissioned works and ushers in a new generation of Kāi Tahu artists alongside well-established practitioners. Alumni and faculty of Dunedin School of Art have made significant contributions to this exhibition, include Moewai Marsh, Caitlin Donnelly, Megan Brady, Madison Kelly, Simone Montgomery, Simon Kaan, Ross Hemera, Rachael Rakena, Vicki Lenihan, Ron Bull and Emma Kitson. Tauraka Toi – A Landing Place is an embodiment of Paemanu’s aspiration to explore Kāi Tahutaka through contemporary visual art and to cultivate Toi Ngāi Tahu for future generations.

These exhibitions sit alongside the exhibition from the Gallery’s permanent collection, Hurahia ana kā whetū – Unveiling the stars, which was developed in partnership between members of Paemanu and the Dunedin Public Art Gallery curatorial team.  This programme of exhibitions has been developed through the Dunedin Public Art Gallery Visiting Artist Project and Curatorial Internship, supported by Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa and project partner, Dunedin School of Art.

For more about the exhibitions and images please see at this link https://dunedin.art.museum/exhibitions/present/paemanu-tauraka-toi/

- Lucy Hammonds (Curator, Dunedin Public Art Gallery)

Read more in the Otago Daily Times > https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/arts/ngai-tahu-artists%E2%80%99-milestone-exhibition