Kā Kaupapa o te Wā
What’s On
Raymond McIntyre: A Modernist View
New exhibition now open.
Living Archives
Archives that tell stories about artists and history in Aotearoa
Whāia te Taniwha
Māori artists consider the enduring relevance of taniwha in Aotearoa.
E tuwhera ana te wharetoi i kā rā e 7 o te wiki, 10am - 5pm
Ka tuwhera ki te 9pm i kā pō Wenerei
Open 7 days, 10am - 5pm
Late night Wednesday until 9pm
Uruka utukore, ahokore utukore
Free entry, free wifi
Collection
Emily Karaka Ōtāhuhu and Rarotonga
The ongoing impacts of colonisation for Māori, particularly the loss of their land, has for many years driven Emily Karaka’s life and work. These three works are part of a larger series about the history of land confiscations and Te Tiriti o Waitangi settlement processes in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. The titles each refer to one of fourteen ancestral mauka that were returned by the Crown to the thirteen iwi and hapū of Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau as part of the Collective Redress Act 2014. Karaka herself was at the forefront of the negotiations with the Crown on behalf of one of her iwi, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki. Activism is embedded in Karaka’s paintbrush and in her whakapapa: her great-grandfather was Mita Karaka, a member of the delegation led by the Māori king Te Rata Mahuta Pootatau Te Wherowhero that travelled to England in 1914 to present the British Crown with a petition calling for the return of confiscated Māori lands.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi ~ the Treaty of Waitangi
mauka ~ mountains
iwi ~ tribes
hapū ~ sub-tribes
whakapapa ~ genealogy, lineage, ancestry
He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil (from August 2024)
Collection
Emily Karaka Ōhuiarangi
The ongoing impacts of colonisation for Māori, particularly the loss of their land, has for many years driven Emily Karaka’s life and work. These three works are part of a larger series about the history of land confiscations and Te Tiriti o Waitangi settlement processes in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. The titles each refer to one of fourteen ancestral mauka that were returned by the Crown to the thirteen iwi and hapū of Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau as part of the Collective Redress Act 2014. Karaka herself was at the forefront of the negotiations with the Crown on behalf of one of her iwi, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki. Activism is embedded in Karaka’s paintbrush and in her whakapapa: her great-grandfather was Mita Karaka, a member of the delegation led by the Māori king Te Rata Mahuta Pootatau Te Wherowhero that travelled to England in 1914 to present the British Crown with a petition calling for the return of confiscated Māori lands.
He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil (from August 2024)
Collection
Emily Karaka Matukutūruru
The ongoing impacts of colonisation for Māori, particularly the loss of their land, has for many years driven Emily Karaka’s life and work. These three works are part of a larger series about the history of land confiscations and Te Tiriti o Waitangi settlement processes in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. The titles each refer to one of fourteen ancestral mauka that were returned by the Crown to the thirteen iwi and hapū of Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau as part of the Collective Redress Act 2014. Karaka herself was at the forefront of the negotiations with the Crown on behalf of one of her iwi, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki. Activism is embedded in Karaka’s paintbrush and in her whakapapa: her great-grandfather was Mita Karaka, a member of the delegation led by the Māori king Te Rata Mahuta Pootatau Te Wherowhero that travelled to England in 1914 to present the British Crown with a petition calling for the return of confiscated Māori lands.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi ~ the Treaty of Waitangi
mauka ~ mountains
iwi ~ tribes
hapū ~ sub-tribes
whakapapa ~ genealogy, lineage, ancestry
He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil (from August 2024)
Collection
Emily Karaka DNA
Emily Karaka is known for her fearless engagement with political issues, especially in relation to Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi). This painting depicts wāhine Māori activists who have led protest movements in Aotearoa – Te Puea Hērangi, Tuaiwa (Eva) Rickard, Titewhai Harawira and Whina Cooper – and includes the flag of Te Arikinui, Dame Te Atairangikaahu – the Māori Queen. At the centre is a self-portrait based on a photograph of the artist at Ihumātao, a site in Tamaki Makaurau Auckland with deep archaeological and cultural significance for Māori, which was confiscated by the New Zealand government in 1863 in a breach of the Treaty. “I am wearing the kahu kiwi of my tupuna, Kiwi Tamaki, and his whale bone taonga named Waiohua,” Emily has written. “The golden yellow ruru, encompassing and connecting the wāhine like a spiritual korowai, represents kaitiakitanga [guardianship/protection]. All the wāhine in the painting share the same DNA—whakapapa and ancestry.”
(Perilous: Unheard Stories from the Collection, 6 August 2022- 21 July 2024)
