Massey University’s Auckland campus is home to a collection of more than 90 artworks – and it continues to grow with the acquisition of new works by leading Māori artists Brett Graham and Lonnie Hutchinson.
Three works in total have been added to the collection, 37.24° S, 175.02° E by Mr Graham and Secrets you can’t tell and I can make a rhyme by Ms Hutchinson.
Mr Graham is a sculptor known for his large-scale artworks and installations that explore indigenous histories, politics and philosophies.
He conceives his Māori whakapapa as a Pasifika/Moana identity and affiliates with a global network of indigenous and non-Western peoples. From this basis, Mr Graham's work engages with histories of imperialism and global indigenous issues.
His 37.24° S, 175.02° E work references Pōkino, the site of the Queen's Redoubt, a major colonial military headquarters and important site during the New Zealand Wars. It was built by Governor George Edward Grey to transport troops for the invasion of the Waikato.
Growing up in South Auckland and the Waikato, Graham was very aware of the military redoubts which remain as tangible remnants of the invasion of Maori lands and the associated confiscation of almost one million acres.
He has said previously of this work: “The ongoing messages of the redoubts entered our psyche subconsciously. I felt compelled to make these works, lest we forget”.
Ms Hutchinson is of Ngāi Tahu, Samoan and European descent and works in the fields of drawing, sculpture, installation and moving image.
Her two works, Secrets you can’t tell and I can make a rhyme, employ her signature use of hand-cut forms, referencing notions of windows and drapes, what we see and don't see.
In Secrets you can’t tell, she abstracts pou forms from meeting houses and combines them with koru forms, of which she says is “reappropriating Walters”.
In I can make a rhyme, she combines the form of the Māori gourd with the Pacific Island taro.
Ms Hutchinson's work contains an underlying politic in its feminist celebration of the work of women and its articulation of a nonwestern, Polynesian worldview that can only be seen by those with appropriate knowledge. The interplay of form, light and shadow are key ingredients in the work, which capture a non-materiality inherent in the Samoan notion of “va”, which is central to her practice – the space between places, things and people, and connections across time. These works derive their titles from song lyrics frequently sung by the late Siaosi Mulipola, a founding dancer and choreographer in Black Grace, to whom Hutchinson dedicated her recent exhibition of this work.
Chair of the Visual Art Committee Professor Kerry Chamberlain says the committee is very excited to have these three works added to the campus’ collection.
“Both artists have a significant standing in the New Zealand art community and have works in Te Papa Tongarewa, and other major public collection in New Zealand and internationally. These recent works are excellent examples of their practice and the University collection is significantly enhanced by having these works, especially fitting as we move to become a Tiriti-led University,” he says.
“These works complement other work in the Auckland collection by Māori artists, Kura Te Waru Rewiri, Robert Jahnke, Emily Karaka, Ross Hemera, Peata Larkin and Rueben Paterson.”
The works have yet to be displayed, but is expected they will be housed in the Library.
The art collection is open to the public seven days a week during semesters and can be found around the campus and in the Library building.