Keri-Mei Zagrobelna, Kohai Grace, Vianney Parata
Facilitated by Jaimie Waititi
Saturday 27 July
12 - 1pm
The gallery
Free
Kohai Grace and Keri-Mei Zagrobelna (Top L - R)
Vianney Parata and Jaimie Waititi (Bottom L - R)
Join artists Keri-Mei Zagrobelna, Kohai Grace and Vianney Parata as they discuss the works in the exhibition Aho Hononga and their respective artforms. Jaimie Waititi will help facilitate this discussion and the talk will touch on the artists connection to Matariki/Puanga and the maramataka and how this influences their various art practices.
Artists Biographies:
Kohai Grace
Kohai Grace
Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Raukawa and Ngāti Porou
Kohai attributes her interest in Māori art beginning as a child, travelling with her parents and six siblings to the annual Māori Artist and Writers hui held at different marae around the motu in the 1970s-80s. There, she found herself captivated by the arts of the wharenui; from her bed, looking up at the kōwhaiwhai in the ceiling and around the walls at the tukutuku and whakairo. She says, ‘I kept my eyes occupied while the artists talked’. Kohai also found her eyes stimulated by the paintings exhibited at the hui by leading Māori visual artists, such as Darcy Nicholas. “I remember as a small child looking up at his paintings in awe, but kind of scared seeing those faces in the clouds.”
In 1986 Kohai was first introduced to raranga harakeke, kiekie and tāniko weaving by Kataraina Hetet at the Wellington Arts Centre, and the following year was taught tukutuku by Katariana’s father, tōhunga whakairo, Rangi Hetet.
Kohai’s first introduction to muka and cloak making was during her degree study at Te Wānanga-o-Raukawa 1994-1997 under the tutelage of Erenora Puketapu-Hetet. Then in 2001, Kohai made her first korowai. while attending a series of cloak making wānanga with Kahu Te Kanawa at Orakei Marae, Auckland.
Kohai’s first solo exhibition was in 2007 titled Tūkākahumai – garments stand forth, a series of ‘black on black kākahu’ that encapsulated her research, exploration, and ‘obsession’ with muka and whatu woven forms within her Master of Māori Visual Arts study, completed in 2008.
Presently Kohai's attention has turned to tukutuku. She enjoys a project that stimulates and challenges the mind whether it be in its form, ‘story to design’ or use of materials, and celebrates its relevance and value not only confined to the wharenui, but for public display and in private homes, and says ‘there is always a story to tell’.
Keri-Mei Zagrobelna
Keri-Mei Zagrobelna
Te Āti Awa & Te Whānau-ā-Apanui
Keri-Mei graduated from Whitireia with a BaPPa in visual arts and comes from a background entwined in museums and art. Currently working from her Pōneke (Wellington) based studio she also holds a history of lecturing, public art commissions, art mentoring and is a jewellery tutor. Her work aesthetic represents the connectedness to her immediate environment, whakapapa and upbringing. It speaks of cultural communication and interpersonal relationships through the language of art.
“Art and Creativity is a medium by which I can communicate my heritage to both local and global audiences. I seek to nurture and encourage others through my work, by way of my actions and choices as an artist.” - KZ
“I use art as my language and speak through my hands. My eyes hear my thoughts and translate.” – KZ
Vianney Parata
Vianney Parata
Te Ātiawa Ki Whakarongotai, Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu
Vianney is a multidisciplinary toi Māori practitioner with an eye for blending traditional methods of cubism within a toi Māori design style. Born and raised in Porirua, Parata attended Toimairangi, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and graduated in 2018 with a degree in Te Maunga Kura Toi (Māori Visual Arts). Later that year, she exhibited her work, Ko Tōku Waikanaetanga Tēnei, with her closest whānau.
In 2016 Vianney studied at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa with the guidance of Sian Montgomery-Nuetze and completed her bachelor of Māori visual arts. In the following years of 2017 and 2018 she travelled to Toimarangi in Hastings to learn from Sandy Adsett and Michelle Mataira.
Parata is a former tāmoko apprentice to Sian-Montgomery-Neutze (Ngāi Tara, Muaūpoko) and, in 2019, became a full-time tāmoko artist and toi Māori practitioner.
Vianney has exhibited in galleries, worked with local schools, commissioned artworks and digital designs, worked at tattoo conventions, and facilitated toi workshops. In 2023 Vianney partnered with Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira to teach Kōwhaiwhai through the Toi Rangatira arts programme. Vianney is working to develop the toi Māori capabilities of her iwi, partnering with Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Toa to teach emerging Ngāti Toa artists toi ā-iwi and pakihi (business skills) to create sustainable careers and ongoing financial freedom for them and their whānau.
Jaimie Waititi
Jaimie Waititi (ia, he, she, they)
Te Whanau a Apanui, Ngati Porou, Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, with French Canadian, American, Norwegian ancestors.
Jaimie is a multi-disciplinary artist, art producer and curator with affiliations to FAFSWAG, Aotearoa SaVĀge K’lub and Te Kapua Studios. Growing up on the East Coast (Te Whanau a Apanui) in a farming and fishing family; Jaimie’s art often explores social politics of small communities, community structure and representation interwoven with the politics of working culture. Most recently, these works were exhibited in the National Gallery of Australia for Te Paepae Aora’i, ImagiNATIVE for Alteration and Nā Te Ārai Ko Mahu for Auckland Pride 2024.
Outside of their art practice Jaimie also produces artists and Art collectives through their business entity Te Kapua Studios, currently producing for Louie Zalk-Neale for the Courtenay Place Lightboxes, Aotearoa SaVAge K’lub for Mimosa House in London and recently co-producing the Pacific Sisters for the 24th Biennale of Sydney. Jaimie is also working part-time as the Exhibition’s Coordinator at Toi Pōneke Arts Centre.
Aho Hononga
28 June - 9 August
Te Wharetoi o Toi Pōneke (Toi Pōneke Arts Centre) presents Aho Hononga: a six-week special exhibition to celebrate mana whenua ringatoi of Te Whanganui-a-Tara.
