Exhibitions to highlight attractions of Waitangi Day

The Incubator Creative Hub is proud to introduce two significant exhibitions to kick start 2021 as a year celebrating Toi Māori and to feature as highlight attractions of the Waitangi Day.

Te Hononga o te Aroha - An Exhibition by Sandra Silby & Aroha Kapi "Hononga" - union, connection, relationship, bond. "Aroha" love, affection, compassion, empathy, charity, sympathy. "Whakapapa" genealogy, genealogical table, lineage, descent Te Hononga o te Aroha - The connection of love through whakapapa, mahi raranga and toi (arts). A collection of weaving by Sandra Silby reflecting connections.

Introducing "Te Hononga" Sandra Silby (main weaver) and Māmā of the mother/daughter (Aroha Kapi) duo "Te Hononga o te Aroha" which in te reo Māori translates "The connection of love" A love connection not only bound by whakapapa, but that of a love and appreciation for mahi toi (arts), mahi raranga (flax weaving) and the sharing of this gift of knowledge and passion with all that are open to it. Sandra Silby although still early on in her raranga (weaving) journey has very instinctive hands that are not only guided by the support of her mentors but carried and guided by her tūpuna.

Maumahara - An Exhibition by Rangimarie Elvin - Introducing fashion/textile designer - Rangimarie Elvin (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Pūkenga) born and raised in Tauranga Moana, operating as Teiria Studios.

Making kākahu (clothing) addressing the raw history of Aotearoa & Māori culture, the design style uses 'memory-marking' to pay tribute and remember those that came before us. The work aims to demonstrate how our culture develops over time, persisting, even through times of colonisation and cultural suppression. Mauri ora!

Teiria Studios presents textiles from 'Hei Maumaharatanga' 2020, memory-marking Māori raranga in knitwear and history of the New Zealand Land Wars. From observation of weavers and existing woven kākahu in her whānau, four knit textiles were made - Waitohu, Taipari, and 2 variations of Makarauri.

Each textile is a contemporary take on traditional knowledge. During a time of personal cultural reclamation for Rangimarie, 'Waitohu' memory-marks the base of korowai, before adornment.

A whatu weave, woven with whakapapa and our make-up, representing that it will be added to over-time, with learning, experience and our personal journeys, much like adding to a new canvas. Inspired by kete o ngā wānanga (baskets of knowledge), one textile memory-marks a kete weave and is named 'Taipari,' after her tupuna, that many stories were shared about, through whakapapa. This therefore represents, te kete tuatea (ancestral knowledge), and the importance of whakapapa.

"Every elder is a walking library, and when they die, the library also disappears," says Whitiora Mcleod.

Makarauri knit variations' reappropriates the Mcleod tartan, an ode to her Scottish whakapapa, remaking into a knit textile that resembles the textures of a korowai. Enhancing the inter-cultural connections and co-existance between Māori and Pākehā. We also get a sneak peek into Rangimarie's upcoming mahi, inspired by the inter-cultural assimilation of Pākehā into Māori communities during the early 19th century. Those we once called, Pākehā-Māori.

This exhibition is proudly featured during the He Iwi Kotahi Tauranga Waitangi Day festival at the Historic Village.