Ngā Ringa Toi o te Matau a Māui
Hastings St Gallery
Date: Nov 16 – Nov 30Space: Hastings St Gallery
Spotlight on Maori and Pacifica art
A Napier exhibition has been organised to spotlight secondary student Maori and Pacifica art, including pieces by four students whose artworks have been on display at Te Papa in Wellington.
Four students from William Colenso College, were the only Hawke’s Bay students with work selected for the 2023 Ringa Toi exhibition, a national showcase of excellence in secondary school Toi Maori and Pacific arts. They are Cris Moetu (Ngapuhi), Michael Rakanui, Leilani Moore (Ngati Kahungunu) and Lynette MacGillivray.
Also included in the exhibition is work by Taikura, Hastings Girls’, Karamu, Napier Boys’ and Havelock North high schools.
The Napier exhibition, called Ngā Ringa Toi o te Matau a Māui 2023, will be at the CAN Hastings Street pop-up gallery space inside The Pottery Experience, 18 Hastings Street. The exhibition is open Tuesday to Saturday 10am till 3pm and Fridays and Saturdays 6pm till 8pm. The artworks are also visible anytime through the front window of The Pottery Experience.
Wiremu Koroneho (William Colenso) head of art Laura Jackson said her four students were thrilled to have had their work selected for Ringa Toi and doubly excited to have their work shown at Te Papa.
The accolade was a “fair acknowledgement of these students’ fabulous creative talent”.
“The beautiful thing about working with young people is they will always surprise you. They have fresh eyes on the world and when their vision is allowed to shine, as it has done here in their art, it’s best just to stand out of their way and applaud.”
Cris Moetu said he had been captivated by photographing water, specifically its shine and texture.
One of his two photographs accepted for Ringa Toi is of the ocean at Waimarama and the other, called After the Cyclone, is a leaf in a Tamatea gutter following Cyclone Gabrielle. Cris is modest when asked about the beauty of his art. “I’m just doing my thing,” he said.
Lynette MacGillivray, who also had photographs accepted for Ringa Toi last year, has three pieces in this year’s show.
As with last year, her subject is hangi, though this year she has zoomed in to focus on details such as steam and sacks.
Lynette attended the exhibition opening in Wellington and “it made me realise how happy we should be that we got in,” she said.
Leilani Moore also has a photograph in the show and Michael Rakanui had a tapa cloth design accepted.
More than 150 artworks from ākonga across Aotearoa were selected for Ringa Toi this year and are on display in Te Papa’s stunning fourth floor Rongomaraeroa marae, which was created by the late master carver Cliff Whiting.
Ringa Toi entries are open to all secondary school and wharekura students working towards achieving NCEA (National Certificate of Educational Achievement) levels 1 to 3 with a focus on Toi Māori and Pacific Art works at Excellence level.
The exhibition, run by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, includes a range of Māori art forms in seven categories: Toi Wharepora (contemporary and traditional weaving), Toi Whakairo (carving), Toi Matihiko (digital print where the reproduction processes have been completed by computer), Toi Matatuhi (printmaking), Toi Waituhi (paint, ink, and drawing), Toi Matarau (shaping and fashioning) and Toi Whakaahua (photography with no digital manipulation).
Opening on 16th November – on till 30th November 2023