Ngā Hau Ngākau
Robin Slow - Brian Flintoff - Bob Bickerton
Ngā Hau Ngākau is an exhibition which is currently touring New Zealand. Consisting of 36 paintings by Robin Slow, 34 carvings by Brian Flintoff and a soundscape and video by Bob Bickerton, Ariana Tikao, Holly Tikao-Weir and Solomon Rahui it evokes the form of the whare whakairo (carved meeting house).
Kaupapa
We that are bound together, we all, everything, whakapapa back to Te Pō, into the night that the gods sang the world into existence. From the world of light into the world of music, the whakapapa takes us through layer upon layer.
From the narratives, sounds and marks of the past that are fragmented at times we are bound and woven into the present. Marks left on stone walls, hoe (paddles), heke (rafters and boards in a whare) and in the wharenui; stone, bone, wood and other (new) materials, carved, etched and constructed showing the spiralling nature and adaptation of innovative actions and ideas reflect where we are at the present.
Our kaupapa has been to work together, using painting... carving... music... to bind narratives that celebrate the forms and histories of the whenua.
These narratives can be expressed by a spiral, kōwhaiwhai, a bird’s song, a carved form, a woven kete - any symbol that may reflect the understandings and/or links with the land of the receiver/viewer/listener.
This whare is dedicated to manu (birds), treasured in Māori mythology as messengers that connect the physical and the spiritual realms.
Acknowledging birds as mana whenua (the original ancestors of these islands) the exhibition honours the ancient whakapapa (genealogy) of ngā manu and offers a different perspective to consider contemporary human experience in Aotearoa.
The wharenui is a place of learning where the stories of ngā manu can be seen and heard. It is a place to rest, to explore, to reflect and to experience through quiet contemplation.
Explore
We invite you to explore the exhibition by selecting one of the menu options below. When navigating this site, click on images to enlarge them. Click on play buttons to watch or listen to videos and audio files.
The Paintings
The Carvings
The Music
The Artists
Education Resources
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