Takitini explores portraiture as an act of asserting Māoritanga in a decolonizing contemporary Aotearoa. In examining the representation of Māori, by Māori and others, each artist renews self-determination.

Transforming localized circumstances and everyday life through powerful testimony, each artist looks to the whenua, weaving, carving, photography, and personal and whānau names to reveal rich layers of whakapapa and mātauranga that restore individual and collective spirit. In valuing these ways of knowing, each artist provides future whānau generations and viewers of their works with more, not less.

"Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini"

Success is not the work of an individual, but the work of many.

By bringing these artists and their works together, we celebrate who we Māori were, who we are and mould our own futures for who we are still yet to be.

Curated by Brook Konia

Poster by Zoe Hannay with Brook Konia