Mata Aho Collective

The Mata Aho Collective is a group of four Māori women artists, Erena Baker (Te Atiawa ki Whakarongotai, Ngāti Toa Rangātira), Sarah Hudson (Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe), Bridget Reweti (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi) and Terri Te Tau (Rangitāne ki Wairarapa).[1] They are known for their large scale fibre-based art work. Mata Aho's installations have been exhibited nationally and internationally, including Kiko Moana (2017) at the Documenta 14,[2] which was later exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 2018, as part of the Oceania exhibition;[3] and Aka (2019) as a centrepiece of a major international exhibition of contemporary indigenous art Adadakone at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.[4]

Mata Aho Collective
Formation2012
HeadquartersNew Zealand
Websitewww.mataahocollective.com//

Background

Mata Aho Collective was established in 2012 after all four, Erena Baker, Sarah Hudson, Bridget Reweti and Terri Te Tau attended kaupapa Māori based meetings at Poupatete Marae in Halcombe in 2011. After this coming together they did a residency at the Enjoy Public Art Gallery in 2012,[5] where they made their first work together and created the collective:

In early 2012 [curator] Claudia Arozqueta indicated through conversation with some of the artists that she would like to have Māori women participate in the Enjoy Public Art Gallery Summer residency, which was to culminate in an exhibition. During development for the residency, the four artists decided to make a single work together, naming themselves Mata Aho Collective.Their first work, Te Whare Pora, was inspired by customary weaving spaces as sites of wānanga for sharing and learning reigned over by the atua wahine Hineteiwaiwa. They treated the residency like a contemporary whare pora, proposing to eat, sleep and create the work all within the gallery. The contemporary kaupapa of the work was extended by the nature of the materials the collective worked with. During the month of the Enjoy Summer Residency, twenty black faux mink blankets were deconstructed and reconfigured to create a 5m x 10m installation that covered the gallery floor space and stood up against the back wall at 90 degrees. Mata Aho employed the faux mink as an instantly recognisable modern Māori material. Mink blankets are readily accessible and warm, commonly used on marae, and often gifted at significant birthdays.[6]

Materials used in their work includes faux mink blankets, synthetic marine rope, reflective tape and tarpaulin. They say when discussing their art work Tauira "As a rule, we like to address accessibility in our work through our use of material. In using ubiquitous materials that can be found both domestically and industrially, we hope that the recognisability can act as an initial ‘in’ to the work."[7]

Within their work are statements of empowerment and integrity of Māori women, their work is founded in mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge).[8] The work Te Whare Pora is described as a powerful statement of indigenous knowledge systems and collective creativity.[9]

In 2017, Mata Aho exhibited Kiko Moana (2017) at the Documenta 14, which draws on mana wāhine. The large scale work, which was installed at the Hessisches Landesmuseum, was made with blue tarpaulin, evocative of the color of water.

All women are graduates from the same courses, Toioho ki Āpiti and CoCA Massey University.

Works

Artworks include:

Mahuika, 2019

Tauira, 2018

Taniwha Tales, 2017

Kiko Moana, 2017

Stop Collaborate and Listen, 2014

Te Whare Pora, 2012

Koakoa, 2012

Exhibitions

Exhibitions include:

2020

- Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi at Twenty

2019

- Honolulu Biennial Hawai’i State Art Museum, Hawai’i

- Océanie, Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, France

- The Slipping Away Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland NZ

2018

- Oceania, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK - Signature Art Prize Singapore Art Museum, Singapore

- The Dowse Art Museum

2017

- documenta 14, Kassel, Germany - Making Space, Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch NZ

2016

- Noho 16 Whau Art Centre, Auckland NZ

2015

- Disrupting the Narrative Thistle Hall, Wellington NZ

2014

- International Artist Initiated, David Dale Gallery, Glasgow UK

- Kaokao Toi Pōneke Arts Centre, Wellington NZ

- We who live in darkness, New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, Wellington NZ

- Māori Art Market TSB Arena, Wellington NZ

2013

- Pūwawao, Aratoi, Masterton NZ

- Old Hall Gigs, Wellington NZ

- Te Whare Pora Enjoy Public Art Gallery, Wellington NZ

References
  1. "Mata Aho Collective". Mata Aho Collective. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  2. "Mata Aho Collective". documenta14.de. Retrieved 2020-10-04.
  3. Macpherson, Amy (November 16, 2018). "Artists of Oceania: Mata Aho Collective". royalacademy.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-10-04.
  4. Amery, Mark (2019-11-14). "Dirt, cat food and clickbait". The Big Idea. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  5. Baker, Erena; Hudson; Te Tau; Reweti (2012). Te Whare Pora. Wellington: Enjoy Gallery.
  6. Te Tau, Terri; Baker; Hudson; Reweti. "Mata Aho Collective". nzhistory.govt.nz.
  7. Baker, Kirsty (2018-09-28). "Before Words Get in Between". Pantograph Punch. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  8. Corballis, Tim (2018). "Mata Aho: Mana wāhine in contemporary art". Counterfutures.
  9. Wellington, Victoria University of (2019-11-14). "Mata Aho Collective artists talk". Victoria University of Wellington. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
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