2011 - Gearing up for Waitangi Day 2011

2011 - Gearing up for Waitangi Day 2011

(Online exhibition officially running from 23rd January to 6th February)

Welcome to the online art exhibition "Gearing up for Waitangi Day 2011". For the next two weeks, I will be uploading a new artwork a day in order to commemorate Waitangi Day. I will also upload some notes about the relevance of the artwork for this particular commemoration and other thoughts. The full exhibition will be fully uploaded before Waitangi Day. I hope you enjoy this exhibition.
(Double-click on a thumbnail for more information about an artwork)
Artwork-198-web.jpg
"Commemoration of the opening of the Spanish embassy in New Zealand." This artwork portrays cultural icons of two countries. Of relevance to this exhibition is that most recognizable cultural icons in New Zealand and for which New Zealand is known, other than kitsch, are Māori: the hongi, the haka, the poi dance, and Māori traditional costumes. That is, the soul, the cultural substrate, of modern New Zealand is Māori!
Artwork-208-web1.jpg
"AotearoaNewZealand" reflects the intricate unity signed off on the Treaty of Waitangi. I see New Zealand as an inseparable unity between Māori and other peoples. This unity stands independently of any particular point of view.
Artwork-209-web.jpg
The "New Zealand territories" map further emphasizes unity by including now just the typical main islands, but also by starring the archipelagos surrounding New Zealand. It also incorporates the Moriori into the social and cultural identity of New Zealand.
Artwork-200-web1.jpg Artwork-201-web1.jpg Artwork-202-web1.jpg Artwork-203-web1.jpg Artwork-227-web1.jpg Artwork-226-web1.jpg
The unity of this exhibition is, thus, better expressed with the word "Aotearoatanga", which borrows from the Māori language but does not necessarily identify with the Māoritanga movement. This is why a "Tino Rangatiratanga" flag does not pertain to this exhibition: it is not inclusive, it is not Aotearoatanga. However, here is a sample of inclusive concept-art flags incorporating such Aotearoatanga spirit.
Aotearoatanga regional flags (Your say)
Here is a summary of the colours chosen to represent regional Aotearoatanga. Participation was rather scarce, but suggested flags were the one listed below.
The North Island flags The South Island flags
Regional-flags-North-v1-1.jpg Regional-flags-South-v1-1.jpg
Northland flag Sky blue Tasman flag Lime
Auckland flag Navy blue Nelson flag Purple
Waikato flag Gold Marlborough flag Red wine
Bay of Plenty flag Silver West Coast flag Green
Gisborne flag Brown Canterbury flag Brown
Hawke's Bay flag Red wine Otago flag Gold
Taranaki flag Orange Southland flag Grey
Manawatu-Wanganui flag Green
(Wanganui subdivision flag) Lime
Wellington flag Yellow Chatham Islands flag Silver
(The survey is still opened at SurveyMonkey), linked to a new exhibition: The Rugby World Cup 2011 in Kiwiland. You are thus still on time to vote for your favourite regional flag!
Artwork-190-web1.jpg Artwork-191-web.jpg Artwork-192-web.jpg Artwork-199-web.jpg Artwork-194-web.jpg Artwork-195-web.jpg Artwork-193-web.jpg
"Aotearoatanga", of course, recognizes and supports "Māoritanga", given that Māori culture is the soul of New Zealand today. This exhibition does not deal with "Māoritanga" and Māori traditional art, though, but only with some of the modern expressions of Māori culture that play a role in New Zealand's indentity proper. They are necessarily rooted in Māori traditions but represent an Aotearoatanga spirit beyond them. I see a challenge for modern New Zealanders, Māori and Pakeha alike: how to capture and express such identity in a way that doesn't become kitsch - eg how to capture the ancestry and value of moko without it becoming kirituhi (writing on skin), how to make Kiwis proud of owning Māori traditional art as a symbol of cultural identity, how to translate traditional icons into new ways… With these artworks, I have explored New Zealand's modern identity in a medium which is not traditionally Māori (ie, canvas painting), and I have used traditional "Māori" colours to translate Māori cultural icons into art. I believe they both represent Aotearoatanga and do so in an artful way.
Artwork-186-web1.jpg Artwork-224-web3.jpg Artwork-225-web1.jpg Artwork-223-web1.jpg
Reality in New Zealand, however, is not all about "Aotearoatanga". Social and cultural conflict exists, and division, segregation and alienation are also current. Although this exhibition does not deal with conflict, the artworks above indirectly question one of them. A national body such as the police, for example, could display Māori patterns and wording, thus helping create a spirit of Aotearoatanga, but they do not. To the left, there is an artful representation of a current police car pattern design; to the right, a concept art for a Māori-based pattern design; in the middle, two "Aotearoatanga" concept-art designs which could be easily adopted in today's designs. The Māori wordings change: "Pirihimana" is modern pingying for "policemen", "porihi" is old pingying for "police", while "toature" is a newly created word following Māori tradition (literary, "warrior of the law"). The words can face each other, be written in two levels (with the words changing levels on different sides of the car), or be written as single words (using a different language on different sides of the car).
Artwork-228-web.jpg Artwork-229-web.jpg
He aha te mea nui o te Aotearoa? He tangata! He tangata! He tangata! What is the greatest thing in New Zealand? It is people! It is people! It is people!
IMG_1923compressed.jpg
Aotearoatanga! Happy Waitangi Day 2011!