Tutu Fingers presents Star Booty. Star Booty inquires into the elemental forces defined within Māori cosmology, where stars and celestial materials are explored through whatu, muka and kōwhatu, which are intricately connected through woven patterns revealing whakapapa whetu (cosmological genealogy). Star Booty is a working collation of Mahi toi exploring physical and metaphysical relationships that bridge the stars to our current physical beings through a lineage of Matauranga Maori that was woven through the stars of Ikaroa and beyond.
Tutu Fingers often work alongside Kōreo Tuku Iho from their respective kaumatua and Purakau Atua, divulging and connecting the physical to the remembrance of our tipuna. We affiliate this mahi to Hine te iwa iwa, atua of childbirth, weaving and moon cycles. With celestial energy settled within our bodies and channelled through our fingers, we materialise this through our hands.
‘Galaxies are embedded in your body, those are your connection beyond, only a few have the mana for its markings, my moko’. – Kuia, Taha Moke Te Kaute a tohunga Matakite in conversation with Arapeta on raperape patterns and celestial creation.
The materials chosen for this installation connect ancient Maori-Moana-nui-a-Kiwa traditions with contemporary practices, encapsulating the historical and cosmological narratives embedded in kōwhatu and stars. We show alignment to contemporary praxis by modes of aho (genealogy and illumination) and modern crystal formulation, utilising alum – this modernity paired with traditional methods of whatu and stone work aims to pull the viewer into an understanding of whakapapa whetu through both a motif of Atuatanga¹ and remembrance to wayfinding.
Whāia te mātauranga hei oranga mō koutou
Seek after learning for the sake of your wellbeing
There is a vast knowledge hidden within the stars, we know through socially activated Matauranga Maori to look to Matariki for action of hauora, Nga whetu iwa symbolic of new growth, grievance, kai, of aroha. We recognise through this time of Matariki, a glimpse of the connected tension between Rangi and Papa, the stars and ourselves. This arisal of connection, the ties between ngā ao and those between beings are keenly propositioned through our Mahi Whatu. Kūpenga bear a state of kotahitanga within them, the oneness that weaves universality i te ao, exploring the seen, unseen as we know it and through the ambiguity of borders activate newfound or hidden knowledge previously beyond reach.
A glimpse beyond the barriers of Te Ao Marama, Tutu Fingers guides the viewers into Tuarangi ā Te Pō (Gallery R) through spatial weaving, Wawata Whetu, illuminating a state of ‘dreaming linked to celestial creation’ (Kuia, Taha Moke Te Kaute) from which stardust is clustered, transformed and crystalised into tangible matter.
Traversing to Mārama ā Iwaiwa (Gallery M) viewers are guided through wā into Uhoturamarama, circulating Ngaa Uho, portals from where aho (light, divinity and life) is funneled into the realm of Rangi and Papa.
¹Byron Rangiwai. (2022). Towards an Understanding of IO through Atuatanga. Sage Journals, Vol18 issue 4, 529-537. https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801221117288
Hours
- Thursday and Friday 1pm - 5pm
- Saturday 12pm - 4pm
Location
- 3 Samoa House Lane
- Auckland Central 1010
- Auckland
Tutu Fingers presents Star Booty. Star Booty inquires into the elemental forces defined within Māori cosmology, where stars and celestial materials are explored through whatu, muka and kōwhatu, which are intricately connected through woven patterns revealing whakapapa whetu (cosmological genealogy). Star Booty is a working collation of Mahi toi exploring physical and metaphysical relationships that bridge the stars to our current physical beings through a lineage of Matauranga Maori that was woven through the stars of Ikaroa and beyond.
Tutu Fingers often work alongside Kōreo Tuku Iho from their respective kaumatua and Purakau Atua, divulging and connecting the physical to the remembrance of our tipuna. We affiliate this mahi to Hine te iwa iwa, atua of childbirth, weaving and moon cycles. With celestial energy settled within our bodies and channelled through our fingers, we materialise this through our hands.
‘Galaxies are embedded in your body, those are your connection beyond, only a few have the mana for its markings, my moko’. – Kuia, Taha Moke Te Kaute a tohunga Matakite in conversation with Arapeta on raperape patterns and celestial creation.
The materials chosen for this installation connect ancient Maori-Moana-nui-a-Kiwa traditions with contemporary practices, encapsulating the historical and cosmological narratives embedded in kōwhatu and stars. We show alignment to contemporary praxis by modes of aho (genealogy and illumination) and modern crystal formulation, utilising alum – this modernity paired with traditional methods of whatu and stone work aims to pull the viewer into an understanding of whakapapa whetu through both a motif of Atuatanga¹ and remembrance to wayfinding.
Whāia te mātauranga hei oranga mō koutou
Seek after learning for the sake of your wellbeing
There is a vast knowledge hidden within the stars, we know through socially activated Matauranga Maori to look to Matariki for action of hauora, Nga whetu iwa symbolic of new growth, grievance, kai, of aroha. We recognise through this time of Matariki, a glimpse of the connected tension between Rangi and Papa, the stars and ourselves. This arisal of connection, the ties between ngā ao and those between beings are keenly propositioned through our Mahi Whatu. Kūpenga bear a state of kotahitanga within them, the oneness that weaves universality i te ao, exploring the seen, unseen as we know it and through the ambiguity of borders activate newfound or hidden knowledge previously beyond reach.
A glimpse beyond the barriers of Te Ao Marama, Tutu Fingers guides the viewers into Tuarangi ā Te Pō (Gallery R) through spatial weaving, Wawata Whetu, illuminating a state of ‘dreaming linked to celestial creation’ (Kuia, Taha Moke Te Kaute) from which stardust is clustered, transformed and crystalised into tangible matter.
Traversing to Mārama ā Iwaiwa (Gallery M) viewers are guided through wā into Uhoturamarama, circulating Ngaa Uho, portals from where aho (light, divinity and life) is funneled into the realm of Rangi and Papa.
¹Byron Rangiwai. (2022). Towards an Understanding of IO through Atuatanga. Sage Journals, Vol18 issue 4, 529-537. https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801221117288
