Latest news with #FionaPardington
RNZ News
3 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
Māori and Pasifika art takes the MET
Fiona Pardington Hei Tiki (female) (PHOTO: supplied/MET) Māori artist(s) - Greenstone pendant (PHOTO: supplied/MET) Tongan artist(s) - Female figure ('otua fefine) (PHOTO: supplied/MET) Fijian artist(s) - Panel (Masi Kesa) (PHOTO: supplied/MET) Photo: Neil Mackenzie A delegation of seven Māori and Pasifika artists are at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, for the grand reopening of the Arts of Oceania Galleries. The galleries are housed in the newly imagined Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, of the MET, which has been closed for renovations since 2021. The Oceania Galleries have 500 years of art from our region. And it was in these galleries that the 1984 Te Māori exhibition took place, a huge step in the journey to elevate Māori and Pacific art from being viewed as 'anthropological artefacts' - to a living, dynamic cultural expression. Photo: Dr Maia Nuku Overseeing The Arts of Oceania galleries in New York is MET Curator Maia Nuku. Mihi speaks with Maia and Puamiria Parata-Goodall, who was a rangatahi performer for Te Māori when it toured the US from 1984-1986.
Scoop
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Fiona Pardington Reveals Exhibition Concept Going To Venice Biennale
Aotearoa New Zealand artist, Dr Fiona Pardington (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Mamoe, Ngāti Kahungunu, Clan Cameron of Erracht), announces her 2026 Venice Biennale exhibition: Taharaki Skyside. Her major new work for Venice builds on the content of her 2024 series Te taha o te rangi, 'the edge of the heavens' which consists of photographs of Aotearoa New Zealand birds preserved as taxidermy specimens in museum collections. Applying the precision, care and responsiveness to historical and cultural resonances she has previously brought to taonga, Pardington's remarkable avian portraits engage with the tradition of memento mori. By resurrecting their dignity, charisma and wildness, Pardington also brings these long-dead birds vividly to life. Taharaki Skyside makes direct connection with the realm where birds act as messengers between the mortal and spiritual worlds, she says. 'Birds can symbolize familial love, romantic attachment, ecological warnings, they can be intimations of mortality, and in my work they can also represent individual people in my life. The ideas I am conjuring remind us of the integral significance of manu within te ao Māori – as sources of food and materials, and intermediaries between human and divine worlds,' says Pardington. 'Taxidermy occupies a unique space between love, death, and fetish. When photographing in museum collections, I have observed the artifice of the birds' presentation, the way they have been posed, the care with which they have been assembled, and, sometimes, their worn condition. By using strategic lighting and angles I am trying to draw out their charisma – to free them from the constraints of being mere objects,' she says. Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū is Creative New Zealand's delivery partner for 2026, and Pardington's Venice project is curated by Chloe Cull and Felicity Milburn. Throughout her practice, Pardington has drawn acclaim for images that invite us to see and feel the world in a new way, says Milburn. 'Her works for Taharaki Skyside carry vital relevance in a global context. Her images underscore the far-reaching and devastating losses – ecological and cultural – that have occurred as the result of human impact and colonisation.' 'She opens up moments of extraordinary resonance and recognition that transcend time and place, life and death,' Milburn says. Taharaki Skyside opens at La Biennale di Venezia on 9 May 2026. Bio notes: Artist Dr Fiona Pardington is responsible for some of the most memorable images in contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand artmaking. For more than three decades, she has crafted a highly respected practice nationally and internationally, operating largely within the tradition of the photographic still life. Pardington often works with museum collections, highlighting the vital cultural and spiritual significance of taonga and natural history specimens for Māori. Pardington has been the recipient of numerous awards and honours, including the Moët et Chandon Fellowship (1991–2), the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship (1996–7) and the Ngāi Tahu residency at the University of Otago Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka (2006). In 2011 Pardington became a New Zealand Arts Foundation Laureate, and in 2016 was named a Knight (Chevalier) in the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres) by the French Prime Minister, the first New Zealand visual artist ever to receive this honour. In 2017, Pardington was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to photography. Pardington's works have been extensively collected by all of Aotearoa New Zealand's major public galleries, as well as the Musée du Quai Branly (Paris), the National Gallery of Art (Washington, US), the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa), Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art and the National Gallery of Victoria.
Scoop
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Te Tuhi Launches The Iris Fisher Artist Studio Residency And More
Press Release – Te Tuhi Te Tuhi celebrates its Golden Anniversary with the launch of the Iris Fisher Artist Studio Residency, the publication of A History of the Pakuranga Arts Society 1969- 1984, and a cake designed by Fiona Pardington. At an event on Saturday 10 May—hosted by Te Tuhi Director Hiraani Himona, along with founders Lois Perry, Bev Smaill and the Iris Fisher Family—Te Tuhi celebrated the incredible 50-year-long journey of the gallery with some of its longest standing contributors and supporters. The celebrations included: • The launch of the Iris Fisher Artist Studio Residency, generously supported by the Lou and Iris Fisher Charitable Trust. • The launch of A History of the Pakuranga Arts Society 1969-1984, a publication uncovering the history behind Te Tuhi's foundation. • A large-scale cake designed by artist Fiona Pardington, who has recently been appointed to represent Aotearoa at the 2026 Venice Biennale. Iris Fisher Artist Studio Residency: a legacy of support for contemporary art Iris Fisher was an early champion of contemporary art in Aotearoa, as well as a pivotal figure in the foundation of the Pakuranga Arts Society in 1969—which paved the way to the establishment of the Pakuranga Cultural and Community Centre (1975), the Iris Fisher Gallery (1984), and Te Tuhi (2001). The first Iris Fisher Art Awards were held in 1981 at the Pakuranga Cultural and Community Centre, won by Phyl Bush (painting) and Dorothy Rickard (spinning and weaving). In 1984, Fisher gifted $10,000 to establish the Iris Fisher Endowment Fund to foster and encourage innovative contemporary art practice through annual awards. This fund, added to over the years by both the Lou and Iris Fisher Charitable Trust and the Pakuranga Arts Society/Te Tuhi, enabled the Iris Fisher Art Award to provide financial and professional support to many emerging artists from 1984 to 2005. In 2007, to increase its impact in a changing environment, the award evolved into the Iris Fisher Art Education Scholarship, offering a $5,000 prize to enable an outstanding visual arts student to complete their final year of study in Auckland. In 2019, the scholarship expanded to a national level. The first recipient was Erica Van Zon in 2007. The 18th and most recent recipient was Kim Ireland in 2024. 2025: a new way to foster artist development 2025 is the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Pakuranga Cultural and Community Centre (now Te Tuhi), and it marks a point in the evolution of the scholarship where Te Tuhi and the Lou and Iris Fisher Charitable Trust have once again considered the current climate and landscape and evaluated how the legacy of Iris Fisher can best foster and encourage contemporary art practice. Reviewing the benefits of the scholarship, one of the biggest impacts on the careers of artists was the opportunity to develop strong relationships with Te Tuhi and the institution's wider network. In light of these considerations, the Lou and Iris Fisher Charitable Trust have generously increased the amount of funding for the scholarship to provide a stipend for a new three-month studio residency programme as the next step in the evolution of the Iris Fisher Art Award. Te Tuhi acknowledges the Iris Fisher family for their invaluable involvement and contribution to the contemporary art sector in Aotearoa New Zealand. A History of the Pakuranga Arts Society 1969-1984 On Saturday 10 May Te Tuhi also launched A History of the Pakuranga Arts Society 1969-1984, a publication uncovering the incredible history behind Te Tuhi's foundation, researched and written by Moyra Elliott in the early 2000s, and finally being published in 2025. Following the 2001 merger of the Iris Fisher Gallery and the Pakuranga Community and Cultural Centre to form te tuhi – the mark, the Pakuranga Arts Society (PAS) Board saw an opportunity to document the Society's rich history. With generous support from the Lou and Iris Fisher Charitable Trust in 2002–2003, PAS commissioned arts writer Moyra Elliott to research and write this history. Drawing on the Society's archives and conducting interviews with many involved over the years, Elliott produced a detailed essay, full chronology, and profiles of key figures. The result is a comprehensive account that honours the dedication and tireless efforts of those who helped shape the Pakuranga Community Centre, the Iris Fisher Gallery, and now Te Tuhi—a lasting tribute to a vibrant legacy of community and the arts. A Fiona Pardington-designed cake to kickoff the celebrations To start this milestone year, many of the longest-standing supporters of Te Tuhi over the past 50 years gathered on Saturday 10 May to celebrate the opening of the Pakuranga Community and Cultural Centre (1975) with a birthday cake designed by Fiona Pardington. Pardington, who will represent Aotearoa at the Venice Biennale in 2026, designed the cake for the 10th anniversary of the Fisher Gallery in 1994, and the Te Tuhi team have recreated it, with some tweaks from the artist, for the gallery's 50th. Te Tuhi 50: other special events and projects Among the many other exciting projects to celebrate Te Tuhi's Golden Anniversary is 50 Years On, an exhibition of ephemera that uncovers the rich history of the gallery through a fascinating collection of archival material. Open to the public until December 2025, this exhibition offers a rare glimpse into the evolution of Te Tuhi, from its beginnings as the Pakuranga Community and Cultural Centre in 1975, through the opening of the Fisher Gallery in 1984, to its current standing as one of Aotearoa's foremost contemporary art spaces. Everyone is welcome to come and visit the exhibition to enjoy a full-immersion into the history of New Zealand contemporary art. Do stay tuned for other opportunities to celebrate Te Tuhi's legacy. We have a whole range of upcoming events, parties, special projects, and publication launches planned for the year!
