Pukahu

Paemanu: Tauraka Toi―A Landing Place is a momentous exhibition spanning the second floor of Dunedin Public Art Gallery (DPAG). With predominantly new works from over 40 Ngāi Tahu artists, the show is curatorially dialogic, offering poignant moments of connection. Tauraka Toi was described to me as ‘fresh’ but this does not quite capture it as the exhibition deserves to be read within the diversity of Ngāi Tahu hapū and whānau worldviews which are exceedingly expansive.

Tauraka Toi continues the palimpsest of toi Ngāi Tahu with glimpses from each work building a layered and multifaceted universe. This world resists linear time in favour of aspherical understanding, of reaching through whakapapa, in any direction, and holding a narrative, place or person in order to tell your story.

Paemanu are a collective of artists with Ngāi Tahu whakapapa who began in 2012 by organising events for Ngāi Tahu practitioners. Independent of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, they established themselves as a Charitable Trust in 2013 with senior artist Professor Ross Hemera (Kāi Tahu) as Pou Tokomanawa. The current Chair, Kiri Jarden (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Hāteatea, Ngāti Waewae, Ngāi Tūāhuriri, Ngāti Mairehau, Ngāti Haumia ki Paekākāriki, Rangitāne, Ngāti Toa Rangatira) stepped into the role after the terms of both Lonnie Hutchinson (Kāti Kurī ki Kāi Tahu, Sāmoan, Takata Moana, Scottish,