ArtBeat
The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora has an extensive programme of performances and hands-on workshops scheduled for Matariki celebrations that also include, Ka Mua, Ka Muri, an exhibition curated by The Arts Centre's 2022 Toi Māori intern, Ngahina Belton-Bodsworth, (Te Ati Awa, Ngāti Rarua, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Toa, MuaUupoko, Rangitane, English, Scottish and Irish)
Ka Mua, Ka Muri is an exhibition of selected works by established (tuakana) and earlier career (teina) Māori artists. Ngahina Belton-Bodsworth describes the exhibition as a ‘layered exploration of intergenerational influence.’
Ka Mua, Ka Muri features well-established artists and works that may have been pivotal to their career, alongside early and mid-career artists, the exhibition telling stories about the development of artists in relation to one another.
Ngahina Belton-Bodsworth has been a practising artist from the age of 15, when she began selling portrait commissions for families. Fortunate enough to attend Kura Kaupapa on the Kapiti Coast, and surrounded by Māori creative practices she has fond memories of learning Toi Māori from an early age and acknowledges a strong undercurrent from those formative creative years, questioning what it means to be a contemporary Māori artist, alongside strong belief in the ability of art to connect her to whakapapa.
IMAGE: Jemma Mitchell, Luca, 2023, photograph
DETAILS: Ka Mua, Ka Muri Exhibition: Matariki 2023, Pūmanawa Community Exhibition Space 4 – 15 Hōngongoi July, 10.00am – 4.00pm