Uruhau by Toihoukura - a celebration of resilience

Birds as Saints by Steve Gibbs is a metaphor for himself where he went from the shadows to full flight after suffering a medical event. He credits Toihoukura for assisting him back to health. Pictures by Paul Rickard

Gisborne residents and visitors to the region now have the opportunity to see a selection of the best works from Toihoukura — School of Māori Visual Arts in an exhibition at Tairāwhiti Museum.

Named Uruhau — the exhibition is a celebration of resilience and achievements.

This year the art school faced challenges that tested them in many ways but they came together with a shared commitment to excellence, collaboration and support.

Through their core values of whanaungatanga, manaakitanga, and tuakana/taina they have built a stronger more connected and innovative whānau and community that is poised for great things in the future.

This exhibition is a chance to reflect on all they have accomplished and to celebrate the ways they have grown and learned together.

Senior tutor Steve Gibbs said this had been a very difficult time for the students who started in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequently endured Cyclone Gabrielle, but they had persevered and produced an impressive body of work as seen in Uruhau.

The works selected to be part of Uruhau were chosen from the solo shows at Toihukura and are mostly the work of Year 3 and masters students. There are also works from the tutors in the exhibition. Toihoukura, School of Māori Visual Arts was founded in 1990 at Tairāwhiti Polytechnic/Eastern Institute of Technology. From its conception the running philosophy was to make sure that specifically Māori art forms continually develop and evolve.

Today Toihoukura has a reputation for being an innovative national centre of Māori art practice in addition to having developed its distinctive style of contemporary Māori art.

The school also fosters a learning environment that encourages each student to develop a strong sense of a visual imagery related to their own ancestral whakapapa (genealogy).

Each year the Tairāwhiti Museum presents the annual ‘end of year’ exhibition with a selection of artworks by the current students and tutors.

This year senior professor Sir Derek Lardelli has works in the exhibition along with his fellow tutors Steve Gibbs, Makarini Solomon, Erina Koopu and Ngaire Tuhua.