Kā Uri – Descendants

4 November 2017 – 29 April 2018

 

The Southland Museum & Art Gallery Niho o te Taniwha is privileged to present, KĀ URI – Te Whakatuparaka hou o Awarua / DESCENDANTS - The New Generation; an exhibition of portraits and Māori taonga (sacred treasures) by local artist Chiaroni. Chiaroni is a New Zealand born artist living and working in Invercargill and an internationally exhibited painter, sculptor, jeweller and designer.

 

At the heart of this visual exhibition is celebration of distinctive genealogy unique to the region of Awarua/Murihiku. Through the medium of large-scale painted portraits, the different genealogies of the most recent descendants from Awarua will be acknowledged. These are the genealogies of immediate descendants from some of the early bi-cultural marriages between Māori and Pākehā, in the southernmost area of Aotearoa.

 

In collaborative support, related Māori taonga (sacred treasures) held in the Southland Museum and Art Gallery Niho o te Taniwha collection will be present in the gallery alongside the artwork. The taonga will serve as anchor for the exhibition and provide direct links to whakapapa (genealogy) and tupuna (ancestor).

 

The exhibition aims to highlight and celebrate the diverse blood lines and cultures that make up the young generations of human beings from the Awarua/Murihiku region and to connect the young descendants to their whakapapa and related taonga.

 

KĀ URI – Te Whakatuparaka hou o Awarua / DESCENDANTS - The New Generation, an exhibition of painted portraits, genealogy and taonga will create a visual and tangible record of the diverse mix of ethnicities and cultures for future generations to come.

 

This exhibition will be on display in Gallery 3 from Saturday November 4, 2017 until April 29, 2018, at the Southland Museum & Art Gallery, 108 Gala Street, Invercargill.