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Major exhibitions by leading Maori artists feature at Wellington galleries during the Wellington Matariki Festival which opens this week.

Eight of Wellington’s museums and art galleries are presenting the Wellington Matariki Festival featuring more than 60 free events and activities between Saturday 13 June to Sunday 12 July.

Acclaimed artist Darcy Nicholas is one of 25 leading Te Atiawa artists featuring at Waikanae’s Mahara Gallery exhibition He Toi Reikorangi which runs from 13 June to 12 July. The artists all share whakapapa and works range from traditional to contemporary pieces.

Also at Mahara Gallery, three taa moko artists – Mitchell Hughes, Rangi Kipa and Taryn Beri – demonstrate their work on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 June.

Te Tini A Pitau: Ngataiharuru Taepa, 12 years of Kowhaiwhai highights the work of contemporary artist Ngataiharuru Taepa at Pataka Art + Museum in Porirua from Sunday 14 June. Considered one of New Zealand’s most important and innovative contemporary artists, Taepa has been working on restoring kowhaiwhai panels since he was a teenager and for the past 12 years has focued on kowhaiwhai patterns in his work experimenting with a range of new technologies including computer-generated imagery, digital routers, acrylic laminates and stencial on PVC pipes and steel.

Pataka Art + Museum also presents exhibitions by renowned weaver Kohai Grace and students (until 28 June) and ceramic artist Wi Taepa Playing With Colour (11 June – 12 July).

Communication is at the heart of an exhibition by self-taught artist Susan Te Kahurangi King and video/performance artist Shannon Te Ao at City Gallery. King (64) stopped speaking at around the age of five years, but draws endlessly and inventively using graphite, coloured pencils, pastels and inks; while Te Ao uses found language and embeds it into performed actions and gestures. Susan Te Kahurangi King | Shannon Te Ao: From the one I call my own runs from Saturday 27 June.

Wellington artist Sandy Rodgers work features in The Deep Night at Expressions Whirinaki from 11 June to 19 July.

Te Papa has two exhibitions in Nga Toi | Arts Te Papa that highlight remarkable Maori stories. Ngati Toa Rangatira: He iti whetu showcases Ngati Toa stories of encounters in the colonial years of Aotearoa New Zealand. Two Artists contrasts the striking work of Emily Karaka and Shona Rapira Davies, ground-breaking Maori artists who rose to prominence in the mid-1980s.

Also at Te Papa, local aerosol artists will transform a wall in the underground parking lot on Thursday 18 June. Juse1, Kerb, and Spex will take their inspiration from Te Papa’s Maori and Pacific collections, as well as the museum’s Matariki 2015 theme: ‘He rau tangata, he koingo aroha | People gather and affirm love in myriad ways’.

A major new installation work has been created for The Dowse Art Musuem in Lower Hutt and is on display throughout Matariki. Reweti Arapere’s giant tiki figure Rangimatua (Sky Father) stands four stories tall and explores customary Maori narratives.

The exhibitions are highlighted during Art Night on Thursday 2 July, when six of the eight museums and galleries will be open late with free transport and special events and performances.

• The Wellington Matariki Festival 2015 runs from Saturday 13 to Sunday 12 July.

What is Matariki?

Matariki marks the rising of the Matariki star cluster (also known as the Pleiades). The new moon following the rising of Matariki signals the Maori New Year. Customarily, this was a time to remember the deceased of the past year and to plan for the next year. Today, Matariki has been revived as a celebration of people, culture, language, spirituality, and history.
 
Wellington Matariki Festival 2015 partners

Te Papa, the Museum of Wellington City and & Sea, Carter Observatory , City Gallery Wellington, Pataka Art+Museum, Dowse Art Museum, Upper Hutt’s Expressions Whirinaki, and the Mahara Gallery in Waikanae.

Maori artists featuring during Wellington Matariki Festival 2015
 
Throughout Festival: Ngati Toa Rangatira: He iti whetu (Ngati Toa portraits) > Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Highlighting remarkable stories of encounters in the colonial years of Aotearoa/New Zealand.
 
Throughout Festival: Two Artists: Emily Karaka & Shona Rapira Davies  > Nga Toi | Arts Te Papa, Level 5, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Emily Karaka and Shona Rapira Davies are artists of vision, power and determination who rose to prominence in the mid 1980s. This exhibition contrasts the striking work of these two artists, and celebrates the voice that their art has given to many Maori women.
 
Throughout Festival: Reweti Arapere Rangimatua (Sky Father) > The Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt
Reweti Arapere (Ngati Raukawa, Ngati Porou, Ngati Tuawharetoa) has created this new installation standing four stories high that explores customary Maori narratives and is informed by contemporary Maori identities.
 
Until 28 June: Kohai Grace and students > Pataka Art + Museum, Porirua
Works by renowned weaver Kohai Grace (Ngati Porou, Ngati Toa Rangatira, Ngati Raukawa, Te Atiawa) and her students from Whitireia’s Toi Poutama weaving and carving school. This exhibition celebrates the way in which we learn from one another and the various pathways through which knowledge is transferred.
 
11 June – 12 July: Wi Taepa Playing with Colour > Pataka Art + Museum, Porirua
Ceramic artist Wi Taepa (Ngati Pikiao, Te Roro o Te Rangi, Te Arawa, Te Atiawa) has always enjoyed the unpredictable way in which the colours of clay emerge during firing, and here he pushes the theme of colour even further
 
11 June – 19 July: Sandy Rodgers The Deep Night > Expressions Whirinaki, Upper Hutt
Wellington artist Sandy Rodgers (Ngati Raukawa, Tuwharetoa) tours and researches New Zealand and her delvings into history are captured in her works. Each work comprises a combination of elements from collaged images of her previous works to thick layers of smoky shellac. The works are covered in a layer of tissue which is then worked over with delicate designs and images in watercolours, inks and graphite.
 
13 & 14 June 10am - 4pm: Taa Moko at Mahara > Mahara Gallery, Waikanae
Demonstrations by three taa moko artists: Mitchell Hughes (Te Atiawa), Rangi Kipa (Te Atiawa, Taranaki,  Ngati Tama ki te Tauihu) and Taryn Beri
 
13 June – 12 July: He Toi Reikorangi: Te Atiawa artists celebrate Matariki at Mahara > Mahara Gallery, Waikanae
An exhibition featuring the works of 25 leading Te Atiawa artists
 
14 June onwards: Te Tini A Pitau: Ngataiharuru Taepa, 12 years of Kowhaiwhai > Pataka Art + Museum, Porirua
Highlights from the past 12 years of the works of  Ngataiharuru Taepa (Te Arawa, Te Ati Awa) one of our most important and innovative contemporary Maori artists.
 
18 June: Live Graffiti Art by Juse1, Kerb & Spex > Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
See local aerosol artists transform a wall in the underground parking lot. Juse1, Kerb, and Spex take their inspiration from Te Papa’s Maori and Pacific collections. They are also guided by the museum’s Matariki 2015 theme: ‘He rau tangata, he koingo aroha | People gather and affirm love in myriad ways’.
 
27 June onwards: Susan Te Kahurangi King | Shannon Te Ao: From the one I call my own > City Gallery, Wellington
This exhibition brings together two artists who supposedly occupy different ends of the contemporary art spectrum. Susan Te Kahurangi King (64) is a self-taught artist who stopped speaking around the age of five. She draws, endlessly and inventively - in graphite, coloured pencils, pastels or inks on paper. Shannon Te Ao (Ngati Tuwharetoa) uses found language and embeds it into performed actions and gestures.
 
2 July 4-10pm: Art Night > City Gallery, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Pataka Art + Museum, Mahara Gallery, The Dowse Art and Museum, and Expressions Whirinaki
Live music, exhibitions and special events. Free bus between galleries.