Encounters: Nga Tai Whakarongorua

Description

The portrait wall in Toi Art, the art gallery within New Zealand's national museum, Te Papa, is the most popular art exhibition for museum visitors. Hung salon-style on dark red walls, its 36 arresting portraits span historical portraiture to contemporary practice, and represent mana. This handy book details each work in both English and te reo Maori and is the perfect souvenir of a visit to Te Papa and an ideal starting point for exploring questions of art, identity, and cross-cultural exchange.

Dr Rebecca Rice is Curator Historical New Zealand Art at Te Papa. Her current research focuses on nineteenth-century female botanical artists, the visual culture of the New Zealand Wars, and the impact of impressionism on New Zealand artists at home and abroad. Matariki Williams (Ngai Tuhoe, Ngati Whakaue, Ngati Hauiti, Taranaki) is Pou Hitori Maori Matua | Senior Maori Historian at Manatu Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and History. She interested in the depth and breadth of matauranga Maori and te ao Maori and how this contributes to a diverse contemporary Maori society. Her research interests include contemporary social history, art, and digital expressions of self and culture. As an arts writer, her writing has featured in frieze, Art in America, Pantograph Punch, The Spinoff, and e-Tangata. Matariki is also a Trustee for Contemporary HUM.