GIFTED SANDS CELEBRATES 10 YEARS!

15 December 2009

The Mahia whakapapa based “Gifted Sands” exhibition celebrates a decade of exhibiting on home ground this year. Held prior to New Years this year, it will be on the 29th and 30th December at Mokotahi Hall in Mahia Beach.

The artists will be acknowledging this significant milestone with a meet-the-artists evening between 6.00 and 8.00p.m. on the 29th. This will be an opportunity for all our supporters to meet the Gifted Sands artists and the team who organise the exhibition.

Nau Mai, haere mai.

Planning is well under way for the two-day exhibition and the artists are working hard to have a good range of Maori traditional and contemporary art for the show.
We celebrate particularly this year our artists from Iwitea and the three generations of Parekura Robinson's whanau who contribute both work and organisational support to Gifted Sands. Parekura, her daughter Jessie, son Pita, and grandaughter Lana all exhibited and sold work in the last Gifted Sands exhibition.

Parekura and her whanau and Nigel How were also all involved in the hugely successful National Weavers' hui held at Takitimu at Labour Weekend.

Since the last Gifted Sands, our leading artists have extended their own practice and participated in a number of exhibitions. Nigel How and Desna Whaanga-Schollum had work in the prestigious Hawke's Bay Invitational in April. Desna exhibited in the ANZAC exhibition titled 'Mo te Atua, mo te Kuini, me te Whenua' at Iwi Art gallery in Wellington (www.iwiart.co.nz.), "Kauwae '09" exhibitions at the Mangere Arts Centre (June) and Tairawhiti Museum (August)and the "Maori Art MARKet" in Porirua in October.

Nigel How was one of the artists who participated in the New Threads Contemporary Male Weavers 2009 show in Whakatane earlier in the year, and he continues his work at the Wairoa Museum, including the research for and curation of the current 'Te Ha o Nehera' historical exhibition of weaving.

Ngaromoana Raureti's work has been very sought-after in the ongoing exhibitions at Maioha Gallery in Ahuriri (Maioha_gallery@xtra.co.nz). Mereana Gavan and Matt Randall also regularly contribute artworks to Maioha gallery.

Debi Thompson had a solo exhibition at the Emerald Hotel in Gisborne; Deborah Hope has work in the Bank Gallery in Wairoa and also at Lesa Gallery in Petone.

Each year we look forward to the new developments of our regular contributers, and we hope that some new artists who whakapapa to our prominent Mahia tïpuna will also submit work.

And of course we look forward to seeing the loyal supporters of Gifted Sands - without whom this exhibition could not happen - as well as meeting those who have not had the opportunity to view local artists' work before.

The philosophy of many of our artists can be explained thus:

"As Maori we have a unique sense of our "landscape"
It includes past, present & future.
It includes both physical and spiritual dimensions.
It is how we express ourselves in our environment.
It connects whanau & whenua, flora & fauna,
Through whakapapa
It does not disconnect urban from rural
It transcends the boundaries of 'land'scape into other 'scapes'; rivers, lakes, ocean and sky.It is enshrined in our whakapapa, pepeha, tauparapara, whaikorero, karakia, waiata, tikanga, nga korero a kui ma, a koroua ma and our mahi toi.
It is not just where we live - it is who we are!"

(From Te Aranga Cultural Landscapes Strategy, 2008)

Any enquiries re Gifted Sands can be made to Mere Whaanga at Mahia (06) 837 5532.

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