2021

Visual Māori artist, tā moko artist, painter, carver, kapa haka performer, orator, composer, graphic designer, researcher of whakapapa and oral histories, kaikōrero and educationalist.

The focus of Derek’s work is first and foremost in his connection to home, to Tairāwhiti, the marae and in his role as Ahorangi Professor and mentor at Toihoukura, Māori Visual Arts & Design, in Gisborne.

Professor Derek Lardelli is regarded as one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s finest exponents of the arts and has been prominent in explaining and promoting Māori arts to audiences in New Zealand, the Pacific and around the world. Derek continues to promote language revitalisation within an arts context, portraying a future pathway for our youth.

Tū Takawhiti (keep moving), a retrospective exhibition, represents 40 years of creative change and moving forward by looking back!

Tāwera Tāhuri
Exhibition Curator

Whakakai Exhibition. This exhibition showcases new work by participants in the Toi Māori Aotearoa Whakakai Mentoring Programme.

Initiated by Rangi Kipa, the programme aims to develop a supportive cohort of wahine Māori artists working in three-dimensions.

Lead by ponaturi (ancient supernatural beings) Rua successfully retrieved his child and returned to the surface with the art form of whakairo rākau, which has been maintained through Māori houses of learning to the present day.

Mounga – Taranaki dialect for Maunga – mountain

Mounga – according to the Williams dictionary, anything excellent, treasure

The title of this exhibition has been chosen to recognise the physical beauty and geographic presence of the mountain, Taranaki, in the lives of the artists living around him, and by inference, the inspiration from the mountain’s spiritual influence the artists receive to create works of excellence.

Curated by Gabrielle Belz, Ata Tū features art works by members of the Māori Print Collective, Toi Whakaata.
‘Ata’ refers to the reflected image produced through the printmaking process. ‘Ata Tū’ describes the magical moment when the print is lifted from the matrix and brought to Te Ao Marama.
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Just as the sun’s rays stretch out to establish the day, this exhibition sees the introduction of emerging printmakers by established members of the group.

Toi Whakataa (later renamed Toi Whakaata) was formed in 2006 and developed from the 2002 Te Atinga Glass and Print wānanga in Whanganui to support Māori printmaking and to encourage the acceptance of print as a process relevant to Māori expressing kōrero.