• Te Tuhi
• Website
• Instagram

Paerangi: Waipawa is a project that will bring together seven Māori artists in Central Hawke’s Bay to wānanga, share space, and create, culminating in an exhibition, curated by Karl Chitham, in the township of Waipawa on 19-20 October 2024.

This October, a group of seven toi Māori artists from across the motu will gather in Waipawa, Central Hawke’s Bay, to wānanga, create, and exhibit work.

Facilitated by Te Tuhi’s Papatūnga programme, Paerangi: Waipawa is a development opportunity for artists of varying career stages to show work outside of a traditional gallery context, connecting with each other and local communities in the process.

Heidi Brickell, Zena Elliott, Tracy Keith, Neke Moa, Maraea Timutimu, Nephi Tupaea, and John Turi-Tiakitai will all exhibit work over a long weekend, in a variety of spaces in the small regional town.

The exhibition’s title, Paerangi, refers to the place where land and sky meet, often called the pae of Ranginui in te ao Māori. Paerangi curator Karl Chitham says the horizon is a space without time or boundaries, which implies unlimited possibilities.

Over the course of a week, the artists will travel to Te Matau-a-Māui to wānanga, share space, and create, culminating in an exhibition in the township of Waipawa over a long weekend. The exhibition will bring artists and communities together in potential. With mediums including painting, whakairo rākau and whakairo pōhatu, textiles, raranga and raranga whatu, kelp, and ceramics, it’s impossible to predict what visitors will experience.

Curator Karl Chitham says Waipawa is “the perfect place for people to encounter toi Māori”.

“This is such an exciting project that is about connecting artists and art with communities in unexpected ways,” he says.

“Small towns like Waipawa have amazing communities. I am really excited to hear the conversations that this project sparks.”

Te Tuhi director Hiraani Himona says Papatūnga’s foundation is built on nurturing artists, with Paerangi: Waipawa extending that into Central Hawke’s Bay.

“Te Tuhi is always focused on progressing the contemporary art conversation in Aotearoa New Zealand in accessible ways, and this project is no different. We look forward to bringing toi Māori practitioners together in Waipawa and forging connections and memories which will likely last long into the future.”

Paerangi: Waipawa will be open Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 October 2024. More information about the locations and the artists are available on the Te Tuhi website.