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Maioha Kara Salutations

Local News Arts Events and Exhibitions
PUBLISHED: 5 FEB 2021
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An artwork currently in the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery’s street-facing Window Gallery celebrates the change of the seasons and investigates the cyclical patterns of our internal and external environments.

Created by Maioha Kara (Waikato, Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Arawa, Ngāti Porou), Salutations draws on the geometric patterns of Māori and Cook Island art forms, including whakairo, raranga, tukutuku, kōwhaiwhai and tivaevae, to explore the cycles and systems of te ao Māori and the natural world.

Kara considers the rimu body of Salutations to be a taonga. Her shallow excavations on its surface are designed to engage with the wood’s natural characteristics, and speak to the intricate and interconnected cosmological relationships between the resources of the natural world and matauranga Māori.

By filling these indentations with coloured glitter, a shimmering composition is created which gives Salutations a sense of mauri, or energy. Guided by the concept of iraira (shine, glitter; have spots) the vibrant colours of the glitter and gallery walls reflect the shifting of the seasons from spring to summer.

Exhibition curator Hanahiva Rose says: “We are delighted to include this new commission by Maioha Kara in the Govett-Brewster’s summer suite of exhibitions.” 

“Maioha is an exciting early-career artist whose work draws on the principles of toi Māori and narratives of te ao Māori to examine our relationship with the natural world.” 

“We are especially excited to welcome her work alongside the monumental exhibition Tai Moana Tai Tangata by Brett Graham, with whom she shares close whakapapa connections to Waikato.”

“Salutations positioning, on display 24/7 to all who pass or enter the Gallery, and the feedback we have been receiving at the Gallery has been very positive. The work’s vibrancy and enthusiasm have been particularly noted.”

NPDC’s Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre is the New Plymouth District’s cultural hub featuring galleries, a 62-seat cinema, a shop and Monica’s Eatery café.

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Page last updated: 10:02pm Tue 26 October 2021

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