Exploring Toi Tauranga Art Gallery: A Cultural Experience

One recent afternoon, I wanted to be fully engaged in something fun and lively, which, for me, can be art.  As I wandered down the road, one of the joys of living on the outskirts of the CBD is how near I am to events and the newly revamped Toi Tauranga Art Gallery.

On arrival at the new Masonic Park, where the gallery’s entrance is now situated, I’m greeted by the Mauri Stones – a large piece of pounamu and two pieces of obsidian from Tuhūa (Mayor Island), resting in water. It certainly gives a visitor a warm invitation to enter, reflect on themselves and the whenua (the land), and to connect.

“Whakairo” 

by Kereama Taepa

Though, to be honest, I did struggle with the meaning of this ground-floor exhibition. Then, after reading and viewing the visual on the screen, and engaging once again with the bright pink and green walls, I could reasonably understand what was going on in it’s 3D complexity.

This epic augmented reality experience explores the origins of Maori carving.

Collaborative exhibition

by indigenous artists Tyrone Te Waa, from Aotearoa, and Matthew Harris, from Australia

From the full-scale, colourful walls on arrival, I headed around the corner to works that explore place, ancestry and spiritual undercurrents through material, scent and form, and the room’s tone encourages you to slow down. Which it did.

Another slice of the visual smorgasbord

Up a flight of stairs, and I became really engaged with a variety of differing art forms that were on display. I can’t possibly include everything I saw, so I will focus on a few exhibits that held my attention the longest.

Lanu Mamanu – Colourful Patterns

– Pusi Urale & Vaimaila Urale (Samoa)

Together, these artists playfully and meaningfully weave a language of patterns and Samoan symbols into the canvases of paint, wood and fabric, as women living and adapting immersively to the cultural knowledges of past and present. These artists speak to a sense of place that isn’t physically fixed or bound to traditional mediums, but rather acts as a portal to an expansive homeland that touches people’s hearts, minds, and spirits.

Land of my Ancestors

– Darcy Nicholas

“For me, colour is like music, and the drawn lines of an artwork are the rhythms of that music”.

Darcy Nicholas has a voice that quietly demands to be heard, and well worth the time to watch the video and absorb his korero before the visual, in which his art communicates so brilliantly.

“For the future of our children, we need to protect the Earth Mother and Sky Father. This concern is constantly illustrated in my art” –

His paintings, carvings and drawings span decades and hold a quiet authority. Nicholas’s work grounds the entire gallery, offering a sense of completeness as I venture downstairs, thinking how much lighter in mood and fully engaged in the glow of enjoying being surrounded by art.

There were more artists I enjoyed discovering, and I’ll include them in another post, as I’m sure to revisit the gallery before the exhibitions finish.