Mike Crawford ✿ Facing South-Lucy Hammonds recounts her journey to the southern islands with glass artist Mike Crawford and what it revealed of a whenua (land) remote from human control.
Creative Conservation: Art for nature-Chrissy Wickes and Sonia Frimmel share their journey gathering artists across NZ Aotearoa whose creativity is focused on care and appreciation of land.
Whiria: Twisting together -Karl Chitham bears witness to intricately woven works by Tyrone Te Waa that honour the Māori tradition of elevating the ancestors.
The sensory archive-Nina Finigan celebrates the grit that accompanies the documentation of potter Barry Brickell.
Ka rongo au: In response to senses-Rangimarie Sophie Jolley (Waikato-Tainui) and Sian Montgomery-Neutze (Muaūpoko, Ngai Tara) introduce the ways we sense Māori art.
Poi: The mesmerising sound of living taonga-For Isaac Te Awa, poi is not only an accessory for dazzling performances, it is also a traditional Māori instrument used for practical and cultural reasons in itself.
Voicing the winds: Kōea O Tāwhirimātea – Weather Choir -Phil Dadson writes about the method of constructing aeolian harps that he developed for wind recordings across Te Moana Nui a Kiwa as part of the World Weather Network
Ropework: Soft garniture for life-Finn McCahon-Jones weaves a story around his artistic self, Finn Ferrier. An innocent exploration of knotting ends up as part of the treatment for a life-threatening illness.
Ka Taka Te Wā – Time Passed-Areta Wilkinson creates jewellery imprinted with stones from her whenua among the braided rivers of Canterbury.
The Svord Peasant Knife: Thanks to “Heavenly Blue Sky”-Bryan Baker recounts the day a Czech master arrived at his door and passed on the secrets that would enable him to develop the knife that is sold by hundreds of thousands around the world.
Tessa Aroha Harris ✿ Kōrimurimuri dreams-Keri-Mei Zagrobelna lies on the mat woven by Tessa Aroha Harris and dreams of the traditional Māori seaweed dish made by her grandmother.
Lissy Cole ✿ The many faces of Te Ao Māori-Keri-Mei Zagrobelna is struck by the technicolour crochet wheku (faces) woven by Melissa and Rudi Cole, who live an equally colourful life.
Tamihana Katene ✿ taonga puoro-Keri-Mei Zagrobelna shares several powerful taonga puoro, traditional Māori instruments, made by Tamihana Katene.
Tongan designs for a safe pandemic voyage-Angus Gillies writes about traditional Tongan kupesi designs re-interpreted by Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows and Tui Emma Gillies for the COVID era.
Māreikura: Exploring the goddess in Māori women-Neke Moa, adornment and object artist, describes how she explored the role and importance of wāhine (women) in the spiritual and physical world for her latest solo exhibition.
Isolation jewels: A well-made life-Vicki Mason "makes" the most of her time during 14-day quarantine, showing how a garland can invite imagination and create joy.
Ā Mua ✿ Crafting Aotearoa 2.0-A dazzling new exhibition at the Dowse Art Museum features objects that look ahead to the past.
Nikau Hindin ✿ A star compass that makes history-Ngāpuhi and Te Rarawa artist Nikau Hindin created an installation Kāpehu Whetū, Star Compass at Auckland's Maritime Museum. This work uniquely draws on traditions of navigation across Moana with unfinished business from first encounters with European colonists.
Carried Away: A bag of the month-Held close to the body, whether slung askew across a shoulder or closely strapped to the back, bags are objects that have the ability to disappear right under our noses.
Warp & Weft – a selection of textile-ish NZ artists-Garland was launched in Ōtautahi Christchurch with the exhibition Warp & Weft, which featured extraordinary textile-related works from artists in Aotearoa New Zealand. We'd like to share a selection of those works with you.
Yuka Oyama: Helpers – Changing homes 🎞️-Yuka Oyama is producing a series of work "Helpers – Changing homes" in Wellington as part of a residency at Whiti o Rehua School of Art.
How to Make a Necklace from a Chair – Sarah Read-One of New Zealand's most interesting jewellers, Sarah Read has created a performance practice which explores the value of labour. In this project, she is stringing the polystyrene beads from a bean bag into an epic necklace form.
Knotting culture: the muka of Rowan Panther-Tryphena Cracknell considers the way Rowan Panther has interpreted the traditional muka fibre within the technique of lace-making.
Tending relations: Lisa Reihana’s lei epic-Tessa Laird takes a serious look at the cliché of the Pacific lei through the work of Lisa Reihana and her own experience as a wedding guest.
I like reality. It doesn’t terrify me.-Kristin D'Agostino seeks to identify a common element behind the surface in Aotearoa artists working with disparate media.
Weaving a koha-Māori weaver Kohai Grace describes how the koha of weaving is a continuous connecting of other generations.
Taurangi-Keri-Mei Zagrobelna writes about Taurangi, her jewellery work that embodies Māori values of honour.
Knot Touch: From greenhouse to gallery-Jaqui Knowles explains the ways in which the NZ Maritime Museum has unraveled the potential of Jae Kang's tomato plant installation.
A visit to TÜR Studio-Jane Groufsky visited weaver Christopher Duncan and designer Joseph Yen in their welcoming TÜR Studio on K Road, Auckland.
He tupare o ka kupu (a garland of words) 🎧-Andrew Last reflects on his identity has an Australian manuhiri (guest) in the South Island of Aotearoa and how he has creatively responded to his new home.
Tuhirangi writes on the sky 🎧-Making the pūtōrino Māori flute channels the wairua and the tapū, the sacred and the forbidden.
Garland ✿ Auckland: 9 December 2017-Come along to launch Garland #9, featuring an online exhibition curated by Luisa Tora. Lots of karakia, garlanding, poems and talanoa.
Moana issue #9 – December 2017-The December 2017 issue #9 will focus on New Zealand / Aotearoa / Pacific / Moana. We hope to be a new space for gathering contemporary ways of making, particularly those that are not easily accommodated in the modernist studio model. As part of a journey across the region, this will be part of a broader conversation about ornament that includes space for exchange and dialogue. Within a modernist paradigm, objects are ideally encountered on a plinth in a gallery abstracted from their production or use. However, the value of objects often lies in their customary role within ritual practice, particularly gift exchange. When a guest arrives in a community, or a member returns after a long absence, there is sometimes […]
Pink Terraces-Dean Smith is a Castlemaine ceramicist and photographer whose work seeks to interpret landscape. The Pink Terraces series reflects on a distinct geographical feature of New Zealand, his home country.
Nature craft-The traditional story of craft as an art of civilisation involves controlling nature. Fibre is spun, wood is carved, metal is cast, glass is blown and clay is thrown. Making seems to involve an improvement in the otherwise formless quality of materials found in the environment. Natural substances are mastered in order to manipulate them into forms of useful beauty.