Te Au: Liquid Constituencies Opening Weekend Programme

Tue 29 Nov 2022
Kuku Biochar Project & Waikōkopu stream restoration. Image: Maija Stephens. Courtesy of the artists.
Join us to celebrate the opening of Te Au: Liquid Constituencies with a series of artist korero and events throughout the day.

Ciaran Banks, Bonita Bigham, Megan Cope, Erub Arts, Ruha Fifita, Taloi Havini, INTERPRT, María Francisca Montes Zúñiga, Angela Tiatia, Te Waituhi ā Nuku: Drawing Ecologies, Arielle Walker.

Curatorium: Zara Stanhope, Simon Gennard, Ruth McDougall, Beatriz Bustos Oyanedel, Huhana Smith and Megan Tamati-Quennell.

Kia ora koutou,

We know that an extractive view of land – that it contains boundless resource to freely exploit to fuel our constant thirst for growth – has reached its limits, and the impacts of stepping beyond these natural boundaries is being increasingly felt both across Aotearoa and around the world.

In Taranaki we are also very conscious of the waterways that bisect our region, and whose wellbeing is as important as that of the land. This summer’s exhibition programme at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery explores the importance of protecting our waterways and
oceans, and recognising their significance to the past, and as a result their role in our
collective future.

Springs, streams, rivers and seas have long been sources of food and sustenance, routes for voyaging and trade, and repositories of spiritual knowledge and identity. As such we have invited artists from around Te Moana Nui-a-Kiwa who are working with water, and the ideas and identities it holds, to present Te Au: Liquid Constituencies. The exhibition starts a multi-year investigation by the Gallery that will extend well beyond the building we inhabit.

The idea of starting a bigger conversation about the health of the many communities we are part of is an important one, and a function the Gallery seeks to extend this summer and into the New Year. We invite you to be a part of these conversations and dialogues, by visiting the Gallery and taking part in our events, films and discussions.

Zara Stanhope
Director

Opening Weekend Programme
Saturday 3rd December:

10.00 am: Doors open

10.15 am: Welcome to artists, curators and visitors

10.30 am: Bonita Bigham in conversation with Te Aorangi Dillon

11.30 am: Arielle Walker with Monique Jansen from Te Waituhi ā Nuku: Drawing Ecologies

12:30 pm: Screening of artist film Blue Peril by INTERPRT in the Len Lye Cinema

1.30 pm: Megan Cope with Taloi Havini, facilitated by Megan Tamati-Quennell

2.30 pm: Ruha Fifita and Faumuina Felolini Maria Tafuna’i


Sunday 4th December:

10 am - 2 pm: LAKA Koka'anga bring their work and learning practice into the Gallery spaces,
and alongside with artist Ruha Fifita invite you to spend time with the group as they make Ngatu - Tongan Tapa cloth.

10.30 am - 12 pm: Graphite! Animated Traces. 

Film historian and curator Alla Gadassik introduces a special programme of animated shorts devoted to graphite. Artists featured in this programme embrace graphite as a vibrant collaborator that transforms the screen into a tactile surface. 
A post-screening discussion welcomes audience impressions and reflections.