It Is Perhaps a Sign wows at the Sarjeant Gallery

An attentive audience listens to Vanessa Edwards and Greg Donson talking about He Tohu Tena Pea - It Is Perhaps a Sign.

A kōrero about the recently opened exhibition He Tohu Tena Pea - It Is Perhaps a Sign was held at Sarjeant on the Quay on Saturday, June 10.

It involved the Sarjeant’s curator and public programmes manager, Greg Donson, talking with Vanessa Edwards, the co-curator of the exhibition of works by Awa Rere Roa, the Whanganui Māori Visual Arts Collective.

The talk was fascinating and the exhibition provides an experience not to be missed for the people of Whanganui.

Together, Greg and Vanessa provided an insight into the works and described how the exhibition was brought together, with two pou depicting a marae space reaching back to ancestral connections as well as looking into the future.

Vanessa Edwards is a talented printmaker. She broke with tradition to have on display (and for sale) both a print and the block it came from. “This is unknown,” she said.

She explained the connection of her work to Mt Taranaki. “A beacon of strength and defiance, he reminds us to stand steadfast in our attention.”

Gabrielle Belz’s works Whatu and Waiata Poi are acrylic and aluminium leaves on canvas.

Frances Stachl’s work features a number of eyes and is called Kia Mataara, Kia Matapopore which translates to Be Watchful, Be Attentive. The work is finely crafted from oxidised sterling and fine silver, paua shells, and a stainless steel pin.

Deep inside the darkly coloured project gallery space at the Sarjeant Gallery.

Deep inside the darkly coloured project gallery space, Wi Taepa’s work Tihei Mauri Ora! is made from cast glass. His work represents Puanga, the guiding star.

“A beacon as we return to the new. Encapsulating the old and the aspirations of the new as we acknowledge the end of one era and the beginning of a new one.”

Brigham Anderson spoke about his work Taurapa Roimata Toroa - Tears of the Albatross, made of wood and acrylic paint.

Anderson said, “The back of the tukutuku panels must be as beautiful as the front, if they are not, you have to restart your tukutuku panel. This is why I have made the detail on the back. We don’t get to see the back of tukutuku panels.”

Dr Billy van Uitregt’s digital artwork Rangitekiwa has been described as a transcendent space in which wairua is dispersed as stars.

“This could be the beginning of time or the future,” said Vanessa Edwards.

■ He Tohu Tena Pea – It Is Perhaps a Sign will close on June 30, the Sarjeant on the Quay’s final day open to the public. The Sarjeant Gallery will reopen at Pukenamu Queen’s Park in 2024.