Posts tagged ‘Papakura Art Gallery’

#FlashbackFriday Art Takeaway and a decade of arts advocacy in #SouthAuckland

I made an experimental art publication called Art Takeaway 10 years ago

It was the first project I produced in Otara, for Otara, in a way my first ‘exhibition’, definitely the first time I secured funding, and the first time I publicly declared my slightly bumbling position and thinking about art, audiences and site specificity. It was black and white and featured photography and page works by 10 artists. I launched it at the Otara Market on July 9, 2005, which attracted the attention of TVNZ’s Tagata Pasifika, who did a slightly bizarre story on the project, thankfully before the days of YouTube.

After participating in Papakura Art Gallery’s Ako Art Bus Tour this week, an initiative supported with funds from Papakura Local Board for the Auckland region-wide Matariki Festival, I got to thinking about the values of community arts and participation, empowering audiences and the different ways engagement is measured. I’m writing about these themes for an upcoming essay that’ll be published during the Whau Arts Festival, an excellent site-specific community-driven programme supported by the Whau Local Board.

I found my only copy of Art Takeaway the other day. The first page features this imagined conversation between time and space…

 

Art Takeaway Ta-Va, Ema Tavola 2005

#ConcealedAncestors until 23 February

on February 20, 2013

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Fijian-Mãori artist Margaret Aull’s solo exhibition, Concealed Ancestors ends this Saturday 23 February at Papakura Art Gallery, South Auckland. A massively well-received exhibition, only three of the nine works on paper are unsold.

During the exhibition, Margaret presented an excellent artist talk on Saturday 9 February, and also managed to present some impressive new work in her end of year assessment exhibition at Whitecliffe College of Arts & Design where she is currently studying to complete a Master of Fine Arts.


Well done, Margaret!

It was a pleasure to work on this project alongside co-curator Nigel Borell. Margaret is a super organised and professional artist; helping her deliver this beautiful solo show was a joy!

#SOUTH Issue 2 on @RNZNights

on February 3, 2013

Print

I love being the South Auckland / Pacific Arts cultural ambassador for Nights on Radio New Zealand. In January, we discussed SOUTH – a publication I have co-edited with Nigel Borell. Issue 2 of SOUTH was launched on 12 January at Papakura Art Gallery and is available for free at art centres and libraries throughout South Auckland. We’re really proud of Issue 2 and excited to start entertaining new stakeholder relationships for Issue 3.

Listen to the full interview here:

Find SOUTH on Facebook here and read more about the cover image here

 

#ConcealedAncestors video

on February 3, 2013

This video briefly documents the journey of Fijian-Maori visual artist Margaret Aull from her Te Awamutu studio in the Waikato to her solo exhibition at Papakura Art Gallery in South Auckland. I co-curated Margaret’s solo exhibition, Concealed Ancestors with Nigel Borell; the exhibition features sculpture and works on paper and runs until 23 February 2013. Read more here.

This video was shot and edited by Leilani Kake and produced as an archival record with support from the Pacific Arts Committee, Creative New Zealand and Toi o Manukau.

#ConcealedAncestors Works for Sale

Concealed Ancestors
A solo exhibition by Margaret Aull

Works for Sale

Transferred8243139615_d2dc0a937f_c

Acrylic, ochre, graphite, ink, 24-carat gold leaf on paper

$1900

Framed 700 x 932mm

SOLD

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Urenui" (2012)Urenui

Acrylic, aerosol, ink on paper

$1200

Framed 619 x 824mm

SOLD

 

 

 

 

 

 

8244207524_ddfc45f32b_cRe-configure ethnographic

Acrylic, graphite, ink on paper

$1600

Framed 700 x 932mm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8374419681_81d3d2abfaMata Rangatira

Acrylic, ink on paper

$1200

Framed 619 x 824mm

SOLD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8244209424_de1a162a30_cI told you it started here!

Ochre, graphite, ink, 24-carat gold leaf on paper

$1900

Framed 700 x 932mm

SOLD

 

 

 

 

 

 

8244206278_23d61212de_zHaere mai, Vanua

Acrylic, ink, ochre on paper

$2500

Framed 905 x 1218mm

SOLD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8243140703_4cdc16c1cf_zWhakapapa transfer station

Acrylic, graphite, ink, 24-carat gold leaf on paper

$1900

Framed 700 x 932mm

SOLD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matakau [installation]

2-pac gloss acrylic, Totara

$4500

Dimensions variable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8244208830_79037ec6c4_c

Pacific – niger

Acrylic, ink, ochre on paper

$1600

Framed 700 x 932mm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"E Moemoea" (2012) by Margaret AullE Moemoea

Acrylic, ochre on paper

$1600

Framed 700 x 932mm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All works 2012, mounted on acid free mat board, framed using UV-reflective glass.

Prices listed in New Zealand dollars.

Framed dimensions refer to the size of the glass, actual size is approximately 50mm larger.

The exhibition Concealed Ancestors (12 January – 23 February 2013) at Papakura Art Gallery was supported with funding from the Pacific Arts Committee, Creative New Zealand and Toi o Manukau.

Read more about Concealed Ancestors here

Contact Ema Tavola for further information and sales enquiries: Mb (NZ) 027 5779369 / Email Ema.Tavola@clear.net.nz

Seek Utopia – The Way home (series), Hawaiki nui: 2/4

This custom-made aluminum and reflective vinyl road sign has been designed by Fijian-Māori visual artist, Margaret Aull. In only its second public showing, the work entitled “Seek Utopia – The Way home (series), Hawaiki nui: 2/4″ (2012) will be part of Margaret’s upcoming solo exhibition, Concealed Ancestors at Papakura Art Gallery, South Auckland.

In a Māori world view there are operative parallels that exist pertaining to physical and spiritual realms.

Hawaiki nui is a mythological place kept alive through waiata, oratory and whaikorero. Its exact co-ordinates have been blurred over time. The explosion of global positioning through the internet can remove the mystery of sacred and profound places such as Hawaiki nui.

By creating a road sign to Hawaiki nui it is intended that the place transitions from the mythological world into the present, directing travelers at least towards a place that exists on State Highway 1, Aotearoa.

– Margaret Aull

The work will be installed in the Gallery’s road-facing window vitrine from 12 January – 23 February 2013.

Concealed Ancestors also features a series of works on paper and a sculptural installation, all of which have been produced as part of the artist’s post-graduate studies at Whitecliffe College of Arts & Design.

  • Find #ConcealedAncestors on Twitter for ongoing commentary and documentation
  • Follow PIMPI KNOWS on Facebook for event details and updates

Margaret Aull’s Concealed Ancestors

I’m currently writing about Fijian-Māori visual artist, Margaret Aull’s new work for her upcoming exhibition, Concealed Ancestors.

I met Margaret in 2008 in Suva, Fiji – we were both part of the Vasu: Pacific Women of Power project at the Oceania Centre for Arts and Culture at the University of the South Pacific. Since then, we’ve worked together on a number of projects and I’ve enjoyed seeing her work shift and change.

Margaret’s work is intentionally and unintentionally a declaration of her cultural position as a Fijian-Māori / Māori-Fijian. She has made work exploring flags, identity and ownership, as in the work Kiwi mate (2011) [above] and explored political similarities and colonial struggle of both Fiji and Aotearoa.

In a review in Eyeline magazine (Issue 73), Tessa Laird describes Margaret’s work, Tino Rangatiratanga and Coups (2010)as, “a broken composition that is part flag, part museum display case, with fragmented artifacts subjected to colonial categorisation and branding”. The work was created for the exhibition Native Coconut at Fresh Gallery Otara featuring three artists who share both Māori and Pacific Island ancestry.

Last year, Margaret trialled collaborating with a graphic designer to develop the work Fiji ki Aotearoa (2011) which was shown in the exhibition diasporadic679 at various venues in Ōtāhuhu in acknowledgment of Fiji Independence Day.

The work in Concealed Ancestors is a further shift in thinking and aesthetic consideration. The exhibition showcases a series of works on paper and a sculptural installation. Produced as part of Margaret’s post-graduate studies, the work is an in-depth visual enquiry into the concept of tapu / tabu or sacredness informed in part by a recent trip to Fiji and time spent at the Fiji Museum.

Concealed Ancestors runs from 12 January – 23 February 2013 at Papakura Art Gallery, 10 Averill Street, Papakura, South Auckland

Concealed Ancestors

“E Moemoea” (2012) by Margaret Aull, acrylic, ink, collage on paper.

Concealed Ancestors is the upcoming solo exhibition by Waikato-based visual artist, Margaret Aull, co-curated by Nigel Borell and Ema Tavola for Papakura Art Gallery, South Auckland.

In this new body of work, Aull investigates the concept of tapu / tabu within both Maori and Fijian cultural frameworks. Inspired by research at the Fiji Museum, she explores visual representations of ancestors and deities, spiritual lore, mana and life force.

Utlising ochre used in the making of masi (traditional Fijian bark cloth), Aull incorporates the whenua / vanua within her work. Juxtaposed with imagery from Museum collections, she reclaims and re-activates meaning, creating visual mediations of her blurred genetic code.

Margaret Aull (Te Rarawa, Tuwharetoa, Fiji) has exhibited extensively in New Zealand since 2005 and is currently completing a Master of Fine Arts at Whitecliffe College of Arts & Design.

Check out Concealed Ancestors at Papakura Art Gallery from 12 January – 23 February 2013.

Concealed Ancestors is produced with support from the Pacific Arts Committee, Creative New Zealand and Toi o Manukau.

Click here to read more about Concealed Ancestors