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RNZ News
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Ans Westra exhibition organisers hope to identify people in her photos
Ans Westra, Hīkoi, Waitangi, 1984. Photo: Courtesy of Suite Ans Westra, Hīkoi, Waitangi, 1984. Who are the people in the photos? That's the question organisers of an exhibition by the acclaimed photographer Ans Westra are hoping visitors will be able to answer. Ans Westra: Kerikeri 2025 -an exhibition of mostly Northland images, including some never before shown in public - opens on Monday, 5 May, at the Turner Centre in Kerikeri. It's part of an ongoing project to gather more information about the estimated 320,000 photos taken by the Dutch-born Westra, from her arrival in Aotearoa in 1957 until her death two years ago . She is best known for her work documenting the lives of rural Māori, but her vast archive forms an unmatched record of everyday life in her adopted home during the second half of the 20th century. Ans Westra, Te Kao, 1983. Photo: Courtesy of Suite These days Westra's archive is managed by her daughter Lisa van Hulst, the middle child of three, and Wellington gallery owner David Alsop. Alsop said one of the aims of the show, like a similar exhibition in Wellington last year, was to connect with people in the images. He hoped visitors would recognise friends or relatives, or possibly even themselves, and share names and stories so they could be added to the National Library's records. "Part of the purpose is to try and gather more information about the people in the photographs, and reach out to whānau connected to the images … Ans' process didn't involve gathering people's names or anything as she went. She moved quite quickly and quite freely. So the idea now of her daughter and I is to connect with the people in the photographs, and further complete the meaning of the images." Alsop said any information people provided would be invaluable to future researchers or whānau interested in a particular person or event. "So that's what we're increasingly trying to do … It's to let people know they can do this, and if they do, it becomes a better, more interesting, more significant historical archive for everybody who accesses it." Ans Westra, Kawakawa, 1963. Photo: Courtesy of Suite Ans Westra, Kawakawa, 1963. Alsop said Westra was a frequent visitor to Northland. She had close friends in Te Kao and Kaitāia, travelled regularly to Hikurangi, just north of Whangārei, and was a regular at Waitangi Day commemorations in the Bay of Islands. The earliest photo in the exhibition was taken in 1963; the latest dated to the mid-1980s. Alsop said Westra's archive was so vast he still did not know exactly how many images were in it. "It is very, very big. The actual grand total number, we don't know yet, because there's still quite a lot of cataloguing to do." Work to digitise the archive, and upload the images to the National Library's website to make them freely available to all, started in 2014. So far about 80,000 negatives had been digitised with an estimated 70,000 to go. Another 170,000 or so digital images taken since the 2000s did not have to be scanned, but still needed to be captioned and catalogued. Ans Westra, Te Tii Marae, Waitangi, 1982. Photo: Courtesy of Suite Alsop said he first met Westra at an exhibition of her work in Leiden, the city midway between Amsterdam and The Hague where she was born in 1936. They struck up a firm friendship and their families became closely intertwined. Alsop said Westra's contribution to New Zealand photography was "unparalleled and extremely significant". "The breadth, the consistency, the empathy, the beauty of her photographs show us a glimpse of what it might have been like to be a New Zealander at a particular time and in a particular place … there's no other record so important and so far-reaching for the second half of the 20th century." Alsop said Westra had no predetermined ideas about what she was trying to capture. "She was very honest with what she did, and really just captured people as they went about their lives. Her objectivity, through not being New Zealand-born, probably helped." Ans Westra, Hikurangi, 1982. Photo: Courtesy of Suite Some of her work was controversial at the time - a publication for distribution to schools, called Washday at the Pa , was withdrawn in 1964 and most copies were pulped - but now her photos were widely admired. "We're getting a lot of amazing feedback. People are generally really pleased with what Ans did. She can't see that now, but I know she'd be happy to know that we're talking about her work, and that her legacy is being honoured like this." Westra was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 1998. She died in Wellington, aged 86, in 2023. Ans Westra: Kerikeri 2025 opens at 5pm on 5 May in the Theatre Bar at the Turner Centre, Cobham Road, Kerikeri. The free exhibition will be open on weekdays and during events throughout May. Thousands of her images can also be viewed on the National Library website . Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
NZ Herald
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Turner Centre aims to revitalise the arts with community-led programmes
The community generated numerous innovative ideas for programming, which the Turner Centre has been bringing to life. A kuia from Ngāti Rēhia reminisced about 'Kanikani Katoa' (Dance Everyone) events in her youth, where she would sprinkle talcum powder to help kaumātua and kuia glide across the dance floor. We resurrected the Kanikani Katoa tradition with whānau-friendly events that sold out. Australia's 10-piece Hot Potato band and Carnaval Latino, organised in collaboration with the Far North's Latino community, brought together people of all ages and cultures, uniting them over their shared love of music, dance, and art. Younger community members asked us to run a beer festival, so we launched 'Brew of Islands'. The first two festivals attracted over 1800 people a year. Brew of Islands returns on June 28, with support from Northland Inc. The community expressed a desire to see more local stories on stage. We're proud to be hosting the world premiere of Flock!, a Kiwi musical comedy crafted entirely in Northland. Featuring hormonal sheep, hippy goats, and hair-raising aliens, this quirky story promises to get your heart racing and your mind spinning. A significant theme was the desire for more participatory arts programmes. Some adults expressed regret for never participating in Kapa Haka. Whaea Rawi Pere, the organiser of Te Hui Ahurei o Ngāti Rēhia — a kapa haka festival for young students — spoke about developing a similar programme at the Turner Centre. Pere believes in the transformative power of kapa haka, seeing its potential to enrich adults as it does for children and youth. The 2024 programme attracted 40 participants to the eight-week course, culminating in a final concert. Participants from diverse backgrounds, including Aotearoa, Ireland, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, explored Poi, Haka, Choral, Action Songs, and Entry Waiata. The final performance, attended by nearly 400 friends and whānau, was an emotional and uplifting experience. Participants expressed how being part of this kaupapa demonstrated the 'unifying power of song, dance, and culture' and allowed them to 'fulfil lifelong aspirations'. Advertise with NZME. The popular programme is returning to the Turner Centre on April 29, led again by Pere and her whānau. The programme is offered as 'pay-what-you-can', thanks to support from the Bay of Islands-Whangaroa Community Board. Engaging in kapa haka extends benefits beyond the stage, deepening appreciation for Māori culture, developing community connections, and enhancing personal growth. Participants develop confidence, skills, and a sense of belonging, while the physical aspects of kapa haka improve stamina, fitness, and coordination. The eight-week kapa haka programme will culminate in a Matariki performance on June 22. The concert will feature a dance performance straight from the Pacific Dance Festival in Auckland, showcasing Dallas Tilo-Faiaoga of Samoan and Ngāpuhi descent. A string band made up of RSE workers from Vanuatu will also perform, including their version of Tutira Mai Ngā Iwi. In a world that can feel disconnected at times, community-led arts projects such as the Ngāti Rēhia Community Kapa Haka Programme can be a powerful reminder of our shared heritage and the way music and dance can unite, uplift, connect, and inspire our communities. In the words of one kapa haka participant, 'sharing the stage with so many others from many walks of life has shown how song, dance, and culture unifies us all as one'.
