Indigenous
Writing
Crossing Currents: Episode 8
By Contemporary HUM
17.08.2024
Contemporary HUM speaks with Aotearoa New Zealand artist Sandy Adsett (Ngāti Pahauwera), a pioneer in the customary artform of kōwhaiwhai and an active figure in the emergence and presentation of contemporary Māori art on the national and international scenes. He discusses being featured in the 60th International Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, his experience as a teacher, and the question of the uses and future of Māori representation at events such as the Biennale.
Writing
Crossing Currents: Episode 7
By Contemporary HUM
10.08.2024
Robert Jahnke (Ngāi Taharora, Te Whānau a Iritekura, Te Whānau a Rakairo o Ngāti Porou) speaks to Contemporary HUM about his work Te Wepu MMXXIII, which is featured in the 7th edition of Personal Structures in Venice. Jahnke discusses the influence of Te Wepu, the battle flag of the 19th-century Māori prophet Te Kooti, and how the work highlights a formal whakapapa (genealogy) between Te Kooti, who was not only a religious visionary but an artistic innovator in his own right, and contemporary references to the flag, including by the late sculptor and painter Paratene Matchitt.
Writing
Crossing Currents: Episode 6
By Contemporary HUM
03.08.2024
On the occasion of an historic edition of the Venice Biennale for Aotearoa New Zealand, Contemporary HUM speaks with Mataaho Collective, who were awarded one of the top prizes at the Biennale, the Golden Lion, for their work Takapau. Mataaho Collective discuss the logistics of transforming Takapau for the Biennale, as well as working within a continuum of contemporary Māori art practice that also situates them alongside the intergenerational contingent of Māori artists presenting at this year’s Biennale. HUM also speaks with artist, writer and researcher Rychèl Thérin.
Writing
Crossing Currents: Episode 5
By Contemporary HUM
27.07.2024
Contemporary HUM speaks to esteemed Māori sculptor Fred Graham, a pioneering figure in contemporary Māori art who is part of a generation that forged a new path in ngā toi Māori in post-war Aotearoa. Reflecting on his practice of over 70 years, Graham discusses the influence of his teaching and the importance of friends and family, as well as the experience of exhibiting alongside his son, Brett Graham, at the Venice Biennale.
Calendar
Greg Semu, Sacred + Forbidden
03 July —
23 September 2024
Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), Gadigal Lands Sydney, Australia
Project
Crossing Currents: Aotearoa New Zealand Artists in Venice
Podcast series
Despite there being no national pavilion for Aotearoa New Zealand this year, the 60th Venice Biennale is an historic edition for Aotearoa artists. Not only are there an unprecedented number of artists from Aotearoa featured in Venice – both within the International Exhibition of the Biennale and in concurrent events taking place across the city – but it also features the most Māori artists to be included.
In Crossing Currents: Aotearoa New Zealand Artists in Venice, Contemporary HUM speaks with the artists featured in the 60th Venice Biennale and parallel events Personal Structures and Re-Stor(y)ing Oceania as they reflect on presenting in Venice during an historic year for Aotearoa art, Ngā toi Māori and Indigenous art globally.
Calendar
Jasmine Togo Brisby, It Is Not a Place
20 April —
16 June 2024
Institute of Modern Art, Meanjin Brisbane, Australia
Writing
Crossing Currents: Episode 4
By Contemporary HUM
13.07.2024
Architect, artist and mother Elisapeta Hinemoa Heta speaks to Contemporary HUM about her presentation The Body of Wainuiātea, which is featured alongside work by Latai Taumoepeau in Re-Stor(y)ing Oceania, an exhibition curated by Taloi Havini at TBA21–Academy’s Ocean Space in Venice. She discusses the influence of the Māori pūrākau (mythological tradition) of the atua (deity) Wainuiātea, the need to re-establish a sacred relationship to the ocean and the conversations that guided the creation of the work, including with Havini and Taumoepeau.
Writing
HUM live from the 2024 Venice Biennale
16.04.2024
From 16–21 April 2024, Contemporary HUM will publish live coverage, exclusive images and videos from the opening week of Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere, The 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Click through for coverage of the Aotearoa New Zealand artists presenting work in the curated section of the Biennale, as well as in other events held off-site.
Calendar
Hoʻoulu Lāhui: Regenerating Oceania: 13th Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture
06 June —
16 June 2024
Hawaiʻi Convention Center and various locations in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
Writing
We Work Well Together
By Julia Craig
11.02.2024
Presented at Phillida Reid, Claudia Kogachi’s Labour of Love and Nova Paul’s Hawaiki offer frames through which to view the role of collaborative practice in building worlds of love, care, and self-determination.
Calendar
Eddie Elliott, SUARA / ORO RUA
24 May —
26 May 2024
Singtel Waterfront Theatre, Singapore
Calendar
Areez Katki, The Rhapsode’s Tools Will Build the Rhapsode’s House in Personal Structures
20 April —
24 November 2024
Palazzo Mora, Venice, Italy
Writing
“To see us on our best day.”
By Dávvet Bruun-Solbaak
15.12.2023
Offering a glimpse at the wide range of emotions and encounters that Aotearoa-based artist Maungarongo Te Kawa and Northern Sámi activist Dávvet Bruun-Solbaak share in their multifaceted experiences at different edges of the globe, this conversation takes Te Kawa’s recent residency and touring exhibition in Norway and Sámi territories as a departure point.
Calendar
Mataaho Collective and Megan Tamati-Quennell, Indigenous Visions
10.00AM — 6.00PM
16 April 2024
Centro Culturale Don Orione Artigianelli, Venice, Italy
Calendar
The 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
20 April —
24 November 2024
Giardini and Arsenale, Venice, Italy
Calendar
Robert Jahnke, Te Wepu MMXXIII in Personal Structures
20 April —
24 November 2024
Palazzo Mora, Venice, Italy
Calendar
Takiwā Hou: Imagining New Spaces film screening
7.30PM — 9.00PM
03 April 2024
Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta, Malta
Calendar
Elisapeta Hinemona Heta, Re-Stor(y)ing Oceania
23 March —
13 October 2024
Ocean Space, Venice, Italy
Calendar
Nikau Hindin, Badu Gili: Celestial
15 December 2023 —
01 December 2024
Sydney Opera House, Gadigal Lands Sydney, Australia
Calendar
FAFSWAG Arts Collective, Asia TOPA Radar
6.30PM — 9.00PM
27 March 2024
The Substation, Naarm Melbourne, Australia
Calendar
Yuki Kihara, Project Banaba
04 November 2023 —
19 February 2024
Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
Calendar
24th Biennale of Sydney: Ten Thousand Suns
09 March —
10 June 2024
six venues across Sydney, Australia
Calendar
Nikau Hindin, Time Honoured Technologies panel discussion
12.45PM — 1.30PM
10 March 2024
White Bay Power Station, Sydney, Australia
Calendar
Architecture of Aroha, Luleå Biennial 2024
02 March —
26 May 2024
Kulturenshus, Luleå, Sweden
Writing
Collective
By Emily Jan
20.11.2023
Upon visiting Treaty 8 territory for the exhibition Collective, by collaborative duo Miranda Bellamy and Amanda Fauteux, Alberta, Canada-based artist and writer Emily Jan considers how these photographic works function as a body which, like the trees they depict, carries stories; of human desires, needs, and actions of destruction or care.
Calendar
The Shape of Time: Art and Ancestors of Oceania
24 October 2023 —
15 January 2024
National Museum of Qatar, Doha, Qatar
Writing
The Polyphonic Sea
By Emma O'Neill
10.10.2023
Presented at Bundanon Art Museum, deep in the territory of the Dharawal and Dhurga language groups, The Polyphonic Sea features new commissions and recontextualised work by Antonia Barnett McIntosh, Andrew Beck, Ruth Buchanan, The Estate of L. Budd, Sione Faletau, Samuel Holloway and et al., Sarah Hudson, Sonya Lacey, Nova Paul, Sriwhana Spong and Shannon Te Ao.
Calendar
Kahurangiariki Smith, Lisa Reihana and Yuki Kihara, Singing in Unison Part 8: Between Waves
10 October 2023 —
12 January 2024
Industry City, New York, USA
Project
Championing Aotearoa New Zealand women artists
Partnership
Contemporary HUM is excited to launch our partnership with AWARE: Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions. The Paris-based non-profit organisation, founded in 2014, focuses on the creation, indexation and distribution of information on women artists of the 20th century. During our partnership with AWARE we have worked on including more Aotearoa New Zealand women artists in their online profiles. AWARE is a great resource for championing women artists and we’re thrilled to be working with them. A huge thanks to Creative New Zealand for making this partnership possible.