Te Rā : The Māori Sail

Kaua mā te koroingo noa iho, engari mā te werawera rānō

Exhibition: Te Puna o Waiwhetū Christchurch Art Gallery 8 July – 23 October 2023

One of the dreams of those on the Te Rā project team was to bring Te Rā to Aotearoa to be displayed and shared with all New Zealanders. After several years of negotiations between the Te Rā Project Team and cultural institutions this dream was realised with the opening of Te Rā : The Māori Sail Kaua Mā te koroingo noa iho, engari mā te werawera rānō, on July 8 2023 at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna Waiwhetū.

Curated by Chloe Cull, Pouarataki Curator Māori, the exhibition brought Te Rā together with art works by artists Cath Brown, Fayne Robinson, Riki Manuel, Louise Pōtiki Bryant, and Paddy Free. The Te Rā project contributed knowledge and images provided by many participants in the research project, with Ranui Ngarimu, Donna Campbell and Catherine Smith assisting with exhibition planning, development and installation. Funding from Creative NZ was gained to ensure that Māori conservators Jade Hadfield, Erina McCann and Rangi Te Kanawa provided kaitiakitanga and could ensure tikanga was embedded in the installation and handling of Te Rā for travel and display

Here is a link to an article in the Christchurch Art Gallery Bulletin by Chloe Cull, Pouarataki Curator Māori, about exhibiting Te Rā.https://christchurchartgallery.org.nz/bulletin/213/te-ra-at-christchurch-art-gallery

The exhibition subtitle is a quote by Te Rangihīroa (Sir Peter Buck), gifted by Jamie Tuuta (Ngāti Mutunga), translated as “Success cannot be attained by resting on the doings of our ancestors, but is achieved by hard work, sustained effort and unyielding courage.”