Auckland Art Gallery exhibition Tūruki Tūruki! Paneke Paneke! When Maori Art Became Contemporary, on show from 24 May until 24 August, commemorates the 50th anniversary of the first exhibition of contemporary Maori art in Auckland.

In 1958, mentor and educator, Matiu Te Hau curated an exhibition held at the University of Auckland that featured the paintings, sculpture and ceramics of five Northland teachers. The artists were Arnold Manaaki Wilson (pictured), Ralph Hotere, Muru Walters, Katerina Mataira and the late Selwyn Wilson. Auckland Art Gallery exhibition Tūruki Tūruki! Paneke Paneke! When Maori Art Became Contemporary, on show from 24 May until 24 August, commemorates the 50th anniversary of the first exhibition of contemporary Maori art in Auckland.

In 1958, mentor and educator, Matiu Te Hau curated an exhibition held at the University of Auckland that featured the paintings, sculpture and ceramics of five Northland teachers. The artists were Arnold Manaaki Wilson (pictured), Ralph Hotere, Muru Walters, Katerina Mataira and the late Selwyn Wilson.Now 50 years on, in recognition of the significance of the original exhibition, Auckland Art Gallery curator Ngahiraka Mason has mounted Tūruki Tūruki! Paneke Paneke!, an exhibition that showcases some art work from the original display and others from the late 1950s and early 1960s.

"The original exhibition captured the mood of the 1950s and drew attention away from Maori art displayed in museums and redirected that focus to another kind of Maori art," says Mason.

"These were heady times of change and social reform and the artists were innovating and experimenting as teachers, visual artists and crafts people. I believe these artists were the founders of the contemporary visual Maori art culture that we have today."

The exhibition title, drawn from a chant that kept paddlers to a constant beat and sung as part of the formal mihi on the marae, acknowledges the mana of the artists for their role in advancing and moving Maori art into the imagination of both Maori and Pakeha.

Background

Arnold Manaaki Wilson (Ngai Tūhoe, Ngati Tarawhai) and Ralph Hotere (Te Aupōuri) are fulltime practicing artists.

Katerina Mataira (Ngati Porou) is a writer.

Selwyn Wilson (Ngati Manu, Ngati Hine), now deceased, remained a painter, ceramicist and teacher.

Muru Walters (Te Aupouri, Te Rarawa) continues to work in both art and education and is an Anglican bishop.

Tūruki Tūruki! Paneke Paneke!

24 May to 24 August
Auckland Art Gallery, New Gallery
Adult $7 Concession $5
Families $18, Under 5s free
Free on Mondays

Image: (Arnold Wilson) courtesy of Arnold Wilson

22/05/08