Gallery launches virtual tour of acclaimed exhibition Tai Moana Tai Tangata by Brett Graham

Tai Moana Tai Tangata, was held at the Gallery from December 2020 to May 2021, and part of the exhibition has been re-presented at City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi.

The tour offers visitors the opportunity to access the exhibition virtually from anywhere around the world. Embedded into the online exhibition are layers of additional information and resources, from behind the scenes photos of the artworks being created in the artist’s studio to contextual information including significant geographical sites relating to the exhibition’s narratives.

Visitors are welcomed into the tour with a karakia offered by Wharehoka Wano (Taranaki, Te Atiawa and Ngāti Awa). The te reo Māori wall texts are written and spoken by Te Ingo Ngaia (Manukorihi, Ngāti Tairi, Ngā Mahanga, Ngāti Manuhiakai, Waikato-Maniapoto,Te Arawa me Ngāti Porou hoki ), Māori language teacher at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and translator.

Education audiences and schools are a primary audience for this virtual tour as well as the public. The content lends itself to the curriculum and students are able to engage with important elements of Aotearoa’s history through art. Tai Moana Tai Tangata brings out multiple narratives both Māori and Pākeha surrounding the New Zealand Wars, centred on the experiences and histories of Taranaki and Tainui Māori.

Tai Moana Tai Tangata reveals the depth of Graham’s research, experience and numerous collaborations in an exhibition whose layers of history and meaning can be experienced through this new resource. Touring the exhibition with its immersive sonic atmosphere evokes the ways Graham’s works connect resonances of the past with warnings for the future if we continue to look on the world as a site for extraction rather than care.

The Gallery would like to thank Brett Graham, Wharehoka Wano, Te Ingo Ngaio, Dr Anna-Marie White (Manukorihi, Te Ātiawa) and Nick Setteducato for their valuable contributions in bringing this virtual tour to life.

You can view the virtual tour here