ARETA WILKINSON Kai Tahu / New Zealand
The Gus Fisher Gallery

E hine, e kimi ana i te huaki pouri
Kia puta mai koe ki te whariki tapu
I horahia ra e Kahukura, e Tu Te Rakiwhanoa.

Whakaroko mai ki ka taki
O te whenua e neneke ana
Te roa hoki i matata ka haehaetaka
Ka karaka atu to iwi ki a koe, e Hine
Whakamaurutia te mamae o roto nei.

Ka whanau mai ki te tatau pounamu
I waihakatia e o tupuna
Hei turaka mohou i te ao tu nei.

E Hine, seek the opening of the womb
so that you may ascend onto the sacred mat
that has been laid by Kahukura and Tu Te Rakiwhanoa

Listen to the cries
of the shaking land
So long have the open wounds been gaping
Your people are calling to you
Soothe the pain we feel

You are born onto the tatau pounamu
Shaped by your ancestors
as a standing place for you in the new world

- Waiata, Ngai Tahu Deed of Settlement

Background

Born in Kaitaia, New Zealand in 1969, Areta Wilkinson currently lives in Auckland. She has iwi affiliations to Kai Tahu. Solo exhibitions include The Herbal Mixture, The Physics Room, Christchurch, 2001; Legere to gather, Anna Bibby Gallery, Auckland and Avid Gallery, Wellington, 2004, and Waikato Museum of Art and History, Hamilton, 2005; Nga Kanohi o te Rangi, Lopdell House Gallery, Auckland, 2005; Takapau Will Travel, Auckland Museum, 2005-6 and Wahine Kino, Anna Bibby Gallery, Auckland, 2006. Significant group exhibitions include Purangiaho: Seeing Clearly, Auckland Art Gallery, 2001; Taiawhio: Continuity and Change, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, 2002; Te Puawai o Ngai Tahu: 12 Contemporary Ngai Tahu Artists, Christchurch Art Gallery, 2003; Close to Home, Craft Victoria, Melbourne, 2004; 9th Festival of Pacific Arts, Belau National Museum, 2004; Ka Kino To Pounamu He Pounamu Onamata, Auckland Art Gallery, 2004; and Atea, Christchurch Arts Festival, Centre of Contemporary Art, 2005. In 2003 she held a residency at the Banff Centre, Canada. For further reading on Wilkinson's work see the exhibition catalogue that accompanied Te Puawai o Ngai Tahu and Virginia Were, "Flying Carpet", Art News New Zealand, Winter 2006.