A Portrait - 19

At the Opening

Te Hokinga Mai

Ngai Tahu Treasures

Canterbury Museum

February 2010. Ajr

A Portrait - 17

At the Opening

Te Hokinga Mai

Canterbury Museum, Christchurch

Feb.2010, Ajr

A Portrait - 12

At the Opening

Te Hokinga Mai

Canterbury Museum, Christchurch

February, 2010,Ajr

From the Kete Files

Kete on the Move

At the Opening

Te Hokinga Mai, Canterbury Museum

Christchurch, Feb 2010. Ajr

One Stick, Two Views

Tokotoko = Walking Stick
I photographed this one recently at the dawn ceremony that opened the Ngai Tahu exhibition, Te Hokinga Mai at Canterbury Museum.

www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz www.canterburymuseum.com

Following a Food Trail

I took a walk in Christchurch Botanic Gardens yesterday. I had heard that there was 'an exhibition' of Maori trapping and snaring techniques, organised by the gardes and staged in conjunction with the current (very beautiful) Ngai Tahu exhibition Te Hokinga Mai, which is showing at Canterbury Museum.
I was given the small booklet, Te Wao Nui a Tane - The Great Forest of Tane and sent on my way to explore the gardens.

It took me all of three seconds to realise that the trail had been designed for primary school children and that the activities outlined in the booklet, were all about 'conjuring up' an imagined search for traditional foods. Nonetheless, I wandered about, followed the signs, watched groups of kids looking for eels in the water and generally had a lazy time soaking up the sun. I of course, had been hoping to photograph traps and snares. There were none; but the booklet is a nice little exercise in traditions for children, who may not have learned to identify certain native trees, plants, birds and wildlife. And with it's maps marked with an X, its traditional tracking signs, quizzes and learning tasks, the whole exercise seemed worthwhile to me. www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz

A Portrait - 8

At the Opening

Te Hokinga Mai

Canterbury Museum, Christchurch

February 2010.Ajr

More From Mo Tatou

Te Hokinga Mai: Featuring Mo Tatou: The Ngai Tahu Whanui Exhibition from Te Papa and Mo Ka Uri: Taonga from Canterbury Museum, is a stunning show of artefacts and Maori treasures now showing at Canterbury Museum. Mo Tatou opened at Te Papa in Wellington in June 2006 and closed August 2009. It has been reworked to tour three South Island venues - in Christchurch, Dunedin and Southland.
A feature of the exhibition is the juxtaposition between the ancient and the new, the customary and the cutting edge; and many of the works from the Canterbury Museum collection featured in the Mo Ka Uri section of the exhibition, have never previously been exhibited. It includes a beautiful display of exquisitely crafted baskets and cloaks, and ancient carvings, rock art fragments and statues that ooze history and mystique. www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz www.canterburymuseum.com

Korowai - In Detail

This is a close-up shot of the taniko weaving that borders the korowai (cloak) worn by Mark Solomon, Kaiwhakahaere Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu at the dawn opening ceremony of Te Hokinga Mai, a stunning display of Ngai Tahu taonga (treasures) now showing at Robert McDougall Gallery, Canterbury Museum, Christchurch. You can see other photographs (including cloaks) from the dawn ceremony by clicking on Te Hokinga Mai in the label line below this post. www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz

Tiki in a Tree

There's something incredibly 'alive' about this particular tiki, seen here on the promotional flag for Mo Tatou, the stunning exhibition of Ngai Tahu taonga (treasures) now showing as part of Te Hokinga Mai at Robert McDougall Gallery, Canterbury Museum, in Christchurch. It is dated from the 1840s and has been attributed to the Ngai Tahu whanui. It is currently on loan (in the exhibition) from Southland Museum and Art Gallery. I took this shot - and many others - at the dawn opening ceremony for the exhibition last Saturday (Feb 20th) - and you can see more of those if you click Te Hokinga Mai in the label line below this post. www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz

One Man, One Cloak

One of my favourite photographs from the dawn opening ceremony for Te Hokinga Mai at Robert McDougall Gallery, Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, which was held last Saturday, February 20th. The exhibition presents a stunning collection of Ngai Tahu taonga (treasures) in two exhibitions. You can see more photographs from the dawn ceremony by clicking on Te Hokinga Mai in the label line below this post. www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz

Tokotoko - Two Views

Carved Tokotoko

(Walking Stick)

As Seen at the Dawn Opening Ceremony

Te Kohinga Mai - Mo Tatou & Mo Ka Uri

Robert McDougall Gallery, Christchurch.

For other images from Saturday's ceremony click on Te Kohinga Mai in the label line below this post.
http://www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz/

A Quiet Moment - Te Hokinga Mai

Two Views at Dawn

Te Hokinga Mai

The Opening Ceremony at Robert McDougall Gallery

Saturday, February 20th, 2010
To see other images from Saturday's dawn ceremony click on Te Kohinga Mai in the label line below this post.

www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz

Te Hokinga Mai - The Journey Home

At dawn this morning, the doors of the Robert McDougall Gallery at Canterbury Museum opened and Ngai Tahu whanau and invited dignatories made there way inside, in quiet procession, for the blessing of the taonga (treasures) that lay within. Te Kokinga Mai is a beautiful exhibition of Ngai Tahu taonga in two parts. It features the return home of Mo Tatou, the Ngai Tahu whanui exhibition that has been on display at Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand for the last three years; and Mo Ka Uri: Ngai Tahu taonga from Canterbury Museum.

A crowd of 300-400 gathered for the early morning occasion and after a rousing welcome and whakanoa (blessing) by resident Ngai Tahu hapu, Ngai Tuahuriri we made our way inside. For most of us, it was a brief encounter -either a first time look, or a chance to welcome back the treasures that have been viewed by over 850,000 people at Te Papa over the last three years. It's a stunning show - beautifully conceived, with some wonderfully intricate shadows cast across the gallery walls. Each of the taonga is accompanied by a sprig of kawakawa leaves (as above) - this to represent the mauri or life force, the wairua or spirit of the treasures.

Mark Solomon, Kaiwhakahaere, Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu (left) and Kukupa Tirakatene (right) meeting manuhiri (guests) outside the gallery.

As Mark Solomon writes in the exhibition catalogue: "Mo Tatou: The Ngai Tahu Whanui Exhibition endeavours to reflect our values, traditions and aspirations as an iwi (tribe).....The exhibition tells us where we have come from, how we lived, who we were and who we are...." Now, after its highly successful showing at Te Papa, the exhibition has come home for the first part of its journey throughout Te Waipounamu (the South Island), where it will be exhibited in Christchurch, Otago and Southland.

The second part of the exhibition, 'Mo Ka Uri,' brings together an astonishing array of taonga from the vaults of Canterbury Museum that have never been shown before. Over 200 beautiful items are showcased - carvings, korowai (cloaks), kete (baskets), pounamu treasures and more. (It should be noted that the korowai shown in these photographs are not from the exhibition but were worn to celebrate the importance of the occasion). I have many more photographs from this morning's event, which I'll feature here over the coming weeks. And if you happen to be in Christchurch, a visit to Te Hokinga Mai is definitely worth your time. www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz