Nga Kakahu - Change & Exchange

Last year I wrote two consecutive entries on this blog - one about the stunning contemporary cloaks of Roka Ngarimu-Cameron, the other about the incredibly beautiful 'cloak-inspired' garments by Pakeha artist, Jo Torr. The two never knew each other and only became aware of each other's work after seeing it here. I love that modern technology can have lovely outcomes like this. And as a result, Roka and Jo are now exhibiting together in Nga Kakaku - Change & Exchange, a stunning exhibition at Pataka Museum of Art and Cultures, in Porirua, near Wellington. The exhibition (catalogue pictured above), celebrates the art of Maori weaving from both a Maori and a Pakeha perspective. If you click on either Jo or Roka's name in the label line below this post, you'll be able to read more about their individual works. in the meantime, if you're in the Wellington area, make time to see the show. www.pataka.org.nz

A Museum Visit

Auckland Museum has one of the best collections of Maori artefacts in the world - and this is one of them, the pataka (storehouse) Te Oha, which was sold to F.D.Fenton in 1885 by Te Mata Tahuri-o-Rangi. It was purchased by Auckland Museum in 1906. Pataka were generally used to store food, although they sometimes housed valuable weapons, cloaks and baskets. www.aucklandmuseum.com

Art in the Park

I went into Christchurch Botanic Gardens on Saturday morning to check out the sculpture show Flora and Forma, which presents a number of works by New Zealand sculptors tucked away in various parts of the gardens. I completely fell in love with this beautiful work by contemporary Maori artist, Aaron Te Rangiao.

The Pataka, or storehouse - that little 'hut' on top of a tall pole that Te Rangiao has reinterpreted in the top image above - is central to the exhibit. It is symbolic here as the home of all Maori culture and traditions. Made of mirrored glass on totara poles, these exquisitely crafted pataka hint at visibility and invisibility; they catch the sun and they reflect their surrounds in quite a bewitching way.

All images: Christchurch Botanic Gardens. March 2009. Ajr

Te Rangiao protects the pataka by surrounding it with traditional wooden palisading carved with imagery designed to ward off evil spirits. Aaron Te Rangiao graduated from massey University with a Bachelor of Maori Visual Arts and he has exhibited regularly throughout the country.