Te Ara Tapuwae ki Tāmaki Makaurau: retracing footsteps and continuing cultural exchange between Lapita potters of Fiji and Ngā Kaihanga Uku (Māori clay artists)
Ngā Kaihanga Uku are bringing two Lapita potters from Fiji to Aotearoa from the 6th to the 16th of October 2024. Ngā Kaihanga Uku members across Whangārei, Tāmaki Makaurau, and Tokomaru Bay will host activities and events across this period.
Lapita potters Veniana Maraia Paulina and Paulina Lomalagi from Rewa, Fiji will be accompanied by Fiji Arts Council representative Venasio Komai.
As part of the programme artist and ceramicist Carla Ruka will host two events at Te Tuhi.
→ Clay Makers Workshop (no more bookings accepted)
Thursday 10 October 2024, 10am-2pm
This workshop is an opportunity for clay makers who are interested in the origins and techniques of Lapita pottery to work alongside two acclaimed Fijian potters to share skills and stories while creating work.
Bring with you: your workbook, apron, towel and clay tools, items for marking clay (impressions, ie. shell). Te Tuhi will supply clay and some tools. You can pack some lunch or try one of Te Tuhi's Café's specialties.
Please note that, due to limited space available, we can't take in more bookings for the workshop.
→ Demonstration and Discussion Panel
Saturday 12 October 2024, 10am-12pm
A unique opportunity to engage with Lapita potters and Fiji Arts Council representative Venasio Komai. They will share rare insights, stories and images of Lapita pottery sourced from the Lapita collection in Suva while creating works in this audience engaging demonstration and discussion panel.
About Ngā Kaihanga Uku and Te Ara Tapuwae ki Aotearoa
Ngā Kaihanga Uku is a collective of Māori clay artists that formed in 1986 to foster and strengthen clay practice from a Māori worldview and establish links to other Indigenous communities working with clay around the world. In October 2023 Toi Māori Aotearoa (Charitable Trust) partnered together with Te Ātinga Contemporary Māori Visual Arts committee with the support of Joe Harawira, Toi Whakataa the national Māori Printmakers collective, Ngā Kaihanga Uku the national Māori Clayworkers Collective and Creative New Zealand, to send a delegation of nine ringatoi to Suva, Fiji to participate in an arts and cultural exchange with Indigenous artists with direct links to the history of masi making and clay making in Fiji, in particular, Lapita pottery. The exchange was the first Indigenous arts exchange at the Fiji Museum and was supported in kind by Suva Museum, the Fiji Arts Council and Charlotte Darlow, the New Zealand High Commissioner in Fiji.
Through the launch of Te Ara Tapuwae ki Aotearoa this year, the ongoing support of the funders mentioned above, and in partnership with Toi Ngāpuhi, Te Tuhi and Creative Northland, Ngā Kaihanga Uku are now able to reciprocate the manaakitanga of last year’s arts and cultural exchange by hosting Veniana Maraia Paulina and Paulina Lomalagi in Aotearoa. The purpose of this being to strengthen and build upon the relationships and learnings formed last year whilst also providing an opportunity for our communities in Whangārei, Tāmaki Makaurau and Tokomaru Bay, to learn about Lapita pottery and hand building directly from these Fijian potters.