Maiden Aotearoa

City Gallery Wellington | Te Whare Toi

Deane Gallery: 21 May–26 June 2011

Sarah Hudson, Aimee Ratana, Suzanne Tamaki, Vicky Thomas

Curated by Reuben Friend

During the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, Polynesian women were frequently represented as sexually provocative curios—objects of desire. This view is still perpetuated through the media. Maiden Aotearoa looks at four responses to the ‘dusky maiden’ stereotype. Photographer Sarah Hudson shrouds the faces of her unknown Māori maidens, speaking to enforced invisibility. Aimee Ratana looks at the customary use of photography within the whare-tūpuna (ancestral house), affording her ancestral images the same prestige as carved ones. Vicky Thomas's self-portraits, titled Miss Appropriate, present her as a twenty-first-century Māori maiden in black stilettos and swirling piupiu (flax skirt)—contemporary image of wāhine-toa (strong women). Suzanne Tamaki uses fashion to prompt political discussions. In her Treaty of Why Tangi photos, staunch Māori women wear Tamaki garments crafted from New Zealand flags.

For Māori, For Shore, 2011, framed and glazed photographic print by Suzanne Tamaki

For God, For Queen, For Country, 2011, framed and glazed photographic print by Suzanne Tamaki

Self Portrait 3, 2009, framed photographic print by Vicky Thomas

Miss Appropriate, 2004, framed and glazed photographic print by Vicky Thomas

Poi 3 (from the Miss Appropriate series), 2004, framed and glazed photographic print by Vicky Thomas

Dark but Comely 2011, black and white photographic print, Sarah Hudson

Taku Tuhoetana, 2008, inkjet print on Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl paper by Aimee Ratana

Taku Tuhoetana, 2008, inkjet print on Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl paper by Aimee Ratana (on right).

Māori Beauty, 2011, photographic print with LED light on acrylic by Sarah Hudson