Here the gallery is our tauraka, a landing place for Kāi Tahu art.

So long ago we remember when you landed your waka

Your tāhūhū smoothed an ātea deep forever on this tāhuna

We look around this place to lay out your āhua

It was your kōhatu that assured a firm anchorage

When we draw together again it is time to remember your tauraka

We will lay out your āhua again today

-Ross Hemera

Our 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 our arrival, Paemanu: Tauraka Toi.

Co-curated by a team of senior Kāi Tahu contemporary artists and Paemanu trustees - Areta Wilkinson, Ayesha Green, Lonnie Hutchinson, Martin Awa Clarke Langdon, Nathan Pōhio, Peter Robinson, Rachael Rakena, Rongomaiaia Te Whaiti, Ross Hemera, Simon Kaan, Kiri Jarden and Vicki Lenihan. The exhibition will feature newly commissioned works and usher in a new generation of artists alongside well-established practitioners.

*Ka noho a Paemanu: Tauraka Toi ki te roro matua, ā, ki kā taiwhaka whakaatu e ono ki te papa tuatahi o Te Whare Toi Tūmatawhānui o Ōtepoti.

Nei ko te taiwhaka toi, tō mātau tauraka, tō mātou tūka mō te mahi toi o Kāi Tahu

E toro atu ai a mahara ki whakapata, ki te tautaka mai o tō waka

I whakamoanitia e tō tāhūhū he ātea e mauroa ana ki tēnei nei tāhuna

Ka tirohia te wāhi nei, kia hōrapa ana tō āhua

Nōu te kōhatu tū moana i herea rāia mai ai

I a tātau e rakitāmirotia anōtia, ka hoki a mahara ki tō tauraka

Hāi ēnei raki anō tō āhua ka whakatokotoria

-Ross Hemera

I tīmata tā mātau, ko te Mana Whenua haereka i te whakatūraka o te kōhatu ki te roro matua. Ki te whakaaturaka ‘Hurahia ana kā Whetū’ i tūwheratia i te Māruaroa, ko Ross Hemera rāua ko Cath Brown te hāpai, nā i waere ai te ara kia tau ai a, ‘Paemanu: Tauraka Toi’.*