PAEMANU: Tauraka Toi

Paemanu: Tauraka Toi - A Landing Place occupies the foyer and the entire first floor of the Gallery and was launched Saturday 11 December. This remarkable exhibition features works and performances by more than 40 Kāi Tahu artists.

Paemanu’s journey began with mana whenua and the placing of kōhatu in the gallery foyer. In the collection show Hurahia ana kā Whetū which opened in June, Ross Hemera and Cath Brown, the advance party, set the scene for the arrival of Paemanu: Tauraka Toi.

Paemanu Tauraka Toi - A Landing Place features newly commissioned works and ushers in a new generation of artists alongside well-established practitioners.

Co-curated by a team of senior Kāi Tahu contemporary artists and Paemanu trustees — Areta Wilkinson, Ayesha Green, Kiri Jarden, Lonnie Hutchinson, Martin Awa Clarke Langdon, Nathan Pōhio, Peter Robinson, Rachael Rakena, Rongomaiaia Te Whaiti, Ross Hemera, Simon Kaan, and Vicki Lenihan.

Together, Hurahia ana kā Whetū and Paemanu: Tauraka Toi offer the largest institutional display of Kāi Tahu art ever presented.

[image: RACHAEL RAKENA Ko te wai he wai ora 2021. Film still (detail). 16 channel film. Courtesy of the artist. Collaborating creatives: Paulette Tamati-Elliffe (Kāi Te Pahi, Kāi Te Ruahikihiki (Ōtākou), Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Mutunga) and whanau, Komene Cassidy (Ngāpuhi, Ngāi Takoto), Rachael Rakena (Kāi Tahu, Ngā Puhi), Michael Bridgman (Tonga, Ngāti Pākehā), Laughton Kora (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Pūkeko, Ngāti Awa), Iain Frengley (Ngāti Pākehā), Ross Hemera (Waitaha, Ngāti Māmoe, Ngāi Tahu) , Mara TK (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu, Tainui), Amber Bridgman (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Mamoe, Waitaha, Rabuvai), and He Waka Kōtuia.]