Wanting a breath of fresh air and a stroll, I quickly change into more appropriate clothing, jeans with a jacket and boots, and head out the door before the weather changes once again. With no planned direction whatsoever, I turn left.
After a block or two, I decide to visit a favourite haunt, the local Art Gallery. To be honest, there isn’t much else happening here at the moment. The city is undergoing significant changes; businesses are leaving in droves, and the homeless claim the shop entrances as their own. Who can blame them on a wet winter day? Homelessness is still hard for me to digest when it is happening in Aotearoa. I got used to it in other countries, but I’m just not here. Admittedly, I thought we had a welfare state to support those people in need. Obviously, life here has become decidedly harsher than I remember.
I digress.
Up I climb the stairs to view the new art exhibitions.
Firstly, I bypassed Ahsin Ahsin’s “Neon Utopia” as it was a work in progress. I will return later to view it.
A celebration of Matariki
Matariki is the Maori name for the star cluster, the Pleiades. We can observe Matariki rise on the northeastern horizon just before dawn in the last few days of May or the first days of June each year. The first new moon following the rise of Matariki is the first day of the Maori New Year.
Matariki is a particular time in the Maori calendar that focuses on festivity. It is an excellent opportunity to learn about the many facets of Te Ao Māori.
Hā – meaning Breathe
Lewis Tamihana Gardiner is a multi-award-winning pounamu artist who is attracted to working with Jade because of its solidity, beauty, and ancestral connection.
“It is not one’s designation in life to replicate what has gone since, but rather to capture the essence of what has been before in order to expand on what is to become, this is the essence of hā. Tihei Mauri Ora.”
Mātiro – Loving Gaze
This exhibition is the first survey of black-and-white photography by Tauranga-based Kapua Joy Bennett. For more than thirty years, Kapua was a prolific photographer, capturing thousands of images of quiet domestic moments, portraits, street scenes, protests, and Māori communities.
Blood Water Earth
This exhibition is an immersive video installation and ceramic display arising out of an Indigenous international collaboration between Kahyen’kehaka artist Santee Smith [Artistic Director of Kaha: wi Dance Theatre, which focuses on the reawakening of the sacred feminine and incorporates imagery from both Aotearoa and Six Nations of the Grand River, Ontario, Canada.
The work activates sacred alignments from the cosmos to the womb, its symbolic ritual renewal, and a conscious stripping away of colonial impacts on Indigenous women.
It was powerful to watch. To see for yourself, head over to my Instagram HERE. To view the Gallery via a video TAURANGA ART GALLERY
Life at No. 22 
Tauranga is one of my favourite public galleries in NZ; the exhibitions always seem interesting, and the staff are really knowledgeable and friendly.
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Good to hear, Su. Let me know when you next down here and up for another gallery visit.
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Will do. Always much more fun with company.
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It is!
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I love the photographs.
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Thanks 😊 I enjoyed the artwork and knowing more about the creators as well as taking a few photos.
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A wonderful gallery, Suzanne. So what has changed in the economy that you have people living on the streets? I hate to see it but it is common place in many cities in the UK.
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Good question Jo. NZ’s cost of living. Maybe the usual issues of a lack of support and money for mental health and addiction services. Perhaps we are just catching up to the rest of the world and their issues. All in all a complex issue. Tauranga city is having a facelift with new construction and old buildings being pulled down. Apartment living is becoming more in demand.
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Beautiful artwork that you captured in your photos, Suzanne. Nice to read about the collaboration with the Six Nations of the Grand River in my province. #mlstl
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We called in here when we were over in March. I didn’t know that about the Maori new year but am so interested in Maori culture. Visiting from #MLSTL
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I wonder if I passed you 🙂 Pleasing to hear you are interested in the Maori culture, it is fun to learn about new ways of seeing our world.
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It sure is, and you learn so much about the country you’re visiting through the culture of its people. Thanks for posting this.
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Wow, what a wonderful and beautiful gallery. Would really love to take a visit. #MSLTL
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It’s a very welcoming place to visit and enjoy people’s creativity.
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Lovely photos and quite an eclectic mix of art, photography, ceramics and sculpture.
Thanks for linking up with us at MLSTL and I’ve shared on my SM 🙂
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It was and very thought provoking.
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Awesome photos!
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Awesome art!
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I really enjoyed the art gallery with you Suz, and your photos of the amazing art are superb. It’s a shame to hear of the downturn in business but it seems to be happening in many places lately! I really enjoyed the definition of Ha. Sharing for #mlstl
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Cheers Deb. Tauranga as a whole is booming though the city centre is being redeveloped and will be interesting to see what happens and which businesses return. Lots of dining and cafes to enjoy.
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An interesting experience, by the look of it. I saw your post on Instagram last night and wasn’t sure what to make of it. Perhaps I don’t need to make anything of it.
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My videographer needs practice or I may have to fire her 🙃 Perhaps better viewed in person than trying to take a video as I couldn’t capture it all too much going on.
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It wasn’t the fault of the excellent videographer. I could tell that there was a lot happening at the same time and I think that’s a failing of the piece of art itself, unless the intention was to overwhelm and confuse the audience.
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You’re too kind April 😊 Yes, you have a valid point as it was getting to the point of being overwhelming as well as intriguing. I don’t know enough about the intricacies of art to make a call on whether its goal of highlighting the reawakening of the sacred feminine was achieved. All very modern and full of mystic 🙃
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I enjoyed several art galleries when we visited NZ and this one looks striking with the Neon Utopia work near the stairs. I particularly like the black and white photographs each one with their own special story. Thank you for sharing at #MLSTL and enjoy the rest of your week.
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Thanks for commenting Sue, and the same to you regarding the week.
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Im not sure if I will ever get to visit New Zealand so this was lovely to walk around with you. visiting from #MLSTL
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An interesting gallery, I particularly like the statue with the Jade head, Hā. I love galleries, been a long time since I went to one. I’ve actually noticed more and more homeless over here in the UK, it’s an awful situation.
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Perhaps it is the growing division between those that have and those that do not. The breakdown of communities and the wider family unit? Even 5 years ago I can’t remember seeing so many homeless in the Bay of Plenty.
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Yes I’m sure it’s getting worse here, or is it because I’m just noticing it more as I’m older? Not sure
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Good point, perhaps it is because we are getting older. Though most people who didn’t fit into a square box created by society were hidden away in institutions or extended family dealt with it if family could not.
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I love the idea of going to a museum or gallery on my own so I can enjoy everything at my own pace (I don’t get much opportunity to do this, I just love the idea 🙃). That jade piece is exquisite… I have just the place (although probably not the bank account) for it.
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It is fun heading out by yourself and as you say Janis we can do it at our own pace. I enjoy my own company just as much as others 🙂 Yes, the jade piece is eye catching and would be a conversation piece in your home.
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What an interesting gallery.. I am so boring. I always head for the hills and nature.. 😉
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Oh well, Lisa, there are the Papamoa Hills with grand views of the sprawling suburban Papamoa and the ocean for you boring ones 🙃 Though you could do both 😊
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