New exhibition at Te Manawa Art Gallery celebrates 10 years of Women's Art Initiative

I Got You, Honey by Women's Art Initiative member Georgina Dean. Photo / Te Manawa

An ambitious new exhibition of sculpture, digital art and installations is now open at Te Manawa.

In February, the Women's Art Initiative (WAI) will celebrate 10 years since it was formed, and this show marks that milestone.

From small beginnings in a local school's former dental clinic, with a core of just seven artists, WAI has twice had to move to a new studio space to accommodate new members.

The women of WAI make art as a form of resistance and a response to the violence they have experienced.

Empowered by a supportive community, they challenge the myths and stereotypes that sit around both the violence and its "victims" or "survivors". They know people listen to art in ways they sometimes can't to words. It's a good way to suggest to society that it's worth identifying and addressing the causes of violence.

It could be easy to assume the women of WAI make art as a form of therapy. This is not the case. Their art is authentic self-representation, a celebration of endurance, defiance, resurgence, and dignity.

"WAI has provided me with a space to create, learn and discover with powerful women I can relate to," says one artist.

"There is a wonderful sense of safety that comes from being surrounded by people with some similar experiences. WAI offers acceptance of all of this and so much more that can't be explained – it can only be felt."

Every year since its founding WAI has held an exhibition, featuring works across the full spectrum of media. For this latest show, the art gallery's largest space is filled with sculptures, all painstakingly hand-made over hundreds of hours, all powerful, vulnerable, beautiful, fierce, and confronting.

The Details
What: Standing In My Own Light - E tū ana i tōku ake marama
When: Until January 22
Where: Te Manawa Art Gallery
Entry: Free