14 Mar 2017
Leading New Zealand artist Yuki Kihara will research and create new artworks exploring the connections between Ngāti Kahungunu and her homeland of Samoa, during a three-week residency hosted by MTG Hawke’s Bay Tai Ahuriri and supported by Creative New Zealand.
- Hosted by MTG Hawke’s Bay Tai Ahuriri, with support from Creative New Zealand
- Residency runs from 13th – 31st March
- All are welcome to attend the mihimihi at MTG to welcome Yuki Kihara to Hawke’s Bay on Monday 13th March. Contact Jess Mio (jmio@mtghawkesbay.com) for details
Leading New Zealand artist Yuki Kihara will research and create new artworks exploring the connections between Ngāti Kahungunu and her homeland of Samoa, during a three-week residency hosted by MTG Hawke’s Bay Tai Ahuriri and supported by Creative New Zealand.
Kihara’s interest in these connections was inspired by the narrative that tells how the waka Takitimu was built in Samoa many generations before carrying the ancestors of Ngāti Kahungunu to Aotearoa.
Building on this ancestral connection, Kihara will also research current links between Māori and tagata Samoa in Hawke’s Bay, looking in particular at shared experiences of colonialism.
As part of her research, she will speak with Ngāti Kahungunu kaumatua, historians, and members of the local Samoan community. She will also visit landing sites of the waka (or va’a) Takitimu, along with a range of locations relating to contemporary Māori and Samoan life in Hawke’s Bay.
The outcome of this residency will be the creation of new photographic artworks, which will see Kihara engage with Te Ao Māori for the first time. These artworks will be shown as part of Kihara’s solo exhibition with MTG Hawke’s Bay in December 2017.
A mihimihi will be held to welcome Kihara to MTG on the morning of Monday 13th March, which members of the public are welcome to attend. This will be followed by morning tea, an artist talk and a discussion, during which Kihara would love to hear stories, ideas and information from the public to do with Māori and the Samoan community in Hawke’s Bay.
Alternatively, all are welcome to get in touch with Art Curator Jess Mio: jmio@mtghawkesbay.com
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