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This is not a vitrine, this is an ocean
Behind the scenes
When artist/curator Jim Vivieaere died in Auckland on June 3 this year, he was in the process of completing an exhibition for the Vitrine space at Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato.
Following his death, the concept for that show was reconfigured by Leafa Wilson, the Gallery's curator, as This is not a vitrine, this is an ocean. A tribute to Jim, it features work by a selection of New Zealand and international artists, including Ani O'Neill, Michel Tuffery, Niki Hastings-McFall, Lonnie Hutchinson, Brian Butler and Loretta Young. Vivieaere will be remembered as curator of the hugely popular 1994 exhibition Bottled Ocean (City Art Gallery, Wellington) which toured New Zealand and celebrated the work of Pacific artists and as a passionate advocate for contemporary art with a Pacific identity. The exhibition runs until December.
Related
Collection
Lonnie Hutchinson Sista7
From her studio window in the port town of Ōhinehou / Lyttelton, Lonnie Hutchinson could see the volcanic range commonly known as the Seven Sisters running along the back of Ōhinetahi / Governors Bay. A pivotal work in the artist’s career, Sista7 celebrates this evening vista and the sense of belonging she felt nestled in the rohe (territory) of Ngāti Wheke, the hapū (subtribe) based at nearby Rāpaki. The spiritual and cultural values of Hutchinson’s dual Samoan and Ngāi Tahu heritage are firmly embedded in her practice. Hand-cut in black builder’s paper, positive and negative elements recall the fundamentals of Polynesian and Māori design. The rhythm of folds and the elegant shadows cast by the motifs inspire a natural sense of wonder.
(Te Wheke, 2020)
Collection
Lonnie Hutchinson Pigeon Tarot
These tarot cards use the sacred and spiritual symbol of a pigeon to commemorate the artist’s journey to Tia Seu Lupe, an ancient Samoan site of ritual whose name literally means ‘earthen mound to catch pigeons’. “No one in Samoa talks openly about pre-Christian spirituality and religion”, Lonnie Hutchinson has said. “Even the keepers of that sacred information are very wary of who they talk to. But there are coded references in proverbs and for the talking chief. We have a spiritual relationship with God, the gods, the earth, a rock, a stone.” Hutchinson often works in black, using it as a signal of transition and promise: “That’s where the magic happens; it’s a space of infinite possibilities.”
(Te Wheke, 2020)