Location: Galleries, Te Kōputu a te whanga a Toi – Whakatāne Library and Exhibition Centre

Three exciting exhibitions featuring young Maori artists, local weavers, and revered artist Maureen Lander will be open for the summer holidays. Please join us at Te Kōputu to celebrate the opening of PUNA, Flat-Pack Whakapapa (toured by The Dowse), and Pā Harakeke on Saturday 7 December. We would love to see you there. 

10:30 am
Celebrate with a cup of tea and light refreshments in Brookfields Lawyers Gallery at Te Kōputu a te whanga a Toi - Whakatāne Library and Exhibition Centre. 

11 am
Gather for a special talk by Maureen Lander, the artist behind Flat-Pack Whakapapa. 

About the artist:
Dr Maureen Lander (TeHikutu, Ngapuhi) is a multi-media installation artist who has exhibited locally, nationally and internationally since 1986. From the early 1990’s until 2007 Maureen taught Maori Material Culture courses at Auckland University. She has a fine arts doctorate (DFA) from Elam School of Fine Arts and her contemporary artwork draws inspiration from woven fibre pieces in museum collections and early illustrations. Since her retirement from university teaching Lander has continued to make and exhibit her artwork, mainly in the form of large fibre installations such as Aho Kura Huna in Te Papa’s exhibition, Kahu Ora: Living Cloaks (2012). 

Over recent years much of Lander’s artwork has been collaborative and has involved varying degrees of community engagement as part of the process. In February 2017 she created a socially engaged participatory artwork titled Mahi Kara: Fun with Flags for Headland Sculpture on the Gulf. During 2018, as well as the touring exhibition Flat-Pack Whakapapa, her work was exhibited in Embodied Knowledge, The Dowse Art Museum; The Rooms, The Elms historic mission house and library in conjunction with Tauranga Art Gallery; and in X Mark: Conversations in Cloth, Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi, an exhibition which Lander also helped curate.

Image: Maureen Lander, Kit-Set Whanaungatanga, 2017, harakeke, Teri dyes. Collection of the artist and her weaving collaborators. Image: Mark Tantrum