“Ngatu has always mirrored the times in which the maker is making – it’s about recording history, recording narratives and stories,” Dyck said.
Tohi, who was born in Tonga and has been described as ‘Tongan art’s foremost ambassador’, said seeing traditional artefacts in person connected him to his Tongan identity in a more palpable way.
“It gave me a chance to look more in-depth into the more traditional Tongan approach and, at the same time, it was a learning thing to be able to look at all the Tongan objects, we call it koloa, because you don’t usually have a chance to look at that kind of traditional (practice).
“It’s like (connecting with your home) tūrangawaewae … to be able to look at some of the works around the world, it keeps you stronger and more grounded.”
Dyck herself was the first New Zealand woman of Tongan descent to complete a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Postgraduate Diploma of Arts, from Elam School of Fine Arts in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
“I’ve been looking at these objects all my life. So, it’s an ongoing opportunity to delve deeper and actually be physically in contact with these objects.
“That was the privileged part of our position – actually being able to be physically in the same space as them, given that most of them are offshore,” Dyck said.
For Dyck collecting these pieces tick all the spiritual and emotional boxes and that is because for many of the objects that they were in contact with a lot of them aren’t being made any more, or people had lost the knowledge around their origins and their purpose.
“That was the beauty of the conversations about what they are used for,” she added.
Dyck is quick to point out that she and Tohi do not consider themselves experts in these objects and said, “We know that within our communities there are knowledge-holders who would have insights into that – so the more of our community that can see (this project), they will be able to offer those insights into it as well.”
In that regard, Amui ‘i Mu’a: Ancient Futures does not represent a single moment in time, or a completed piece of work by these two highly-regarded Tongan artists.
Instead, this exhibition and the work within it represents an ongoing conversation, a talanoa, between the artists and their communities, ancestors, and art forms, and with the important knowledge held within them all.
“This is a reciprocal way of working and collaborating together. It’s not finished, this is just an ongoing conversation. It’s not like this project has ‘arrived’. We continue to push and pursue, and that comes through meeting new people in our communities who will add to the conversation,” Dyck said.
While Dyck and Tohi have known each other for years, this is the first time the pair have worked alongside each other on a shared project. Each artist responded to different works from the overseas collections, yet in a way that is both complementary and balanced.
Dyck explained it was a strategic decision to have a male and female artist on the project, as it ensures a broader, more balanced approach.
Both artists held interests across all the things they saw but were drawn to certain aspects, for Dyck that was the textiles and more feminine forms, while for Tohi the more masculine, which you can see with his sculptures.
“It mirrors the societal structures that we work in. But there’s also the fact that Tohi’s Tongan-born, I’m New Zealand-born of mixed heritage, so there’s different lenses and different ways that we work, which you can see in elements of mine - which are more Western materials - whereas Tohi’s works are more in keeping with natural or traditional materials,” Dyck said.
Tohi agrees the gender-balanced approach echoes Tongan society and said men and women traditionally have different roles in Tonga, but always work together.
“In Tonga, women make the mats, and men do the carving, so if I go (on a research trip) by myself it’s a different kind of approach. With women around we see all kinds of things, it’s better … to be able to have a woman like Dyck be part of it, doing the research, it makes you understand that it’s not just a carving that you’re looking at,” Tohi said.
From a traditional point of view, women and men have their own work, but they work together, alongside each other, Tohi explained.
Tohi added, “The Pacific, and the Tongans, always have a duality in a way … The soft and the hard, the female and male – because Tongans always have two working together. It’s community work, it’s family work.”
If you are interested in checking out Dyck and Tohi’s work this month, Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga – Hastings Art Gallery is open from 10am to 4.30pm, Monday to Saturday, and from 1pm to 4pm on Sundays.
