The Names Our Mothers Gave Us

Gita by Anjuli Selvadurai

Wa Kainga by Deme Scott-McGregor

Te Whare Hēra Gallery
Clyde Quay Wharf, Wellington

23 - 25 October 2019

The Names Our Mothers Gave Us presents the work of photography honours students Anjuli Selvadurai and Deme Scott- McGregor. This multimedia exhibition explores cultural identity within a contemporary Western sphere.

Gita is a series of self-portraits interrogating Selvadurai’s contested cultural identity. By engaging with notions of duality, exoticism, and girlhood, the artist situates herself between two cultures and two worlds. These works allow Selvadurai to perform her identity, presenting it in a tangible way.

Wa Kainga by Deme Scott-McGregor:

Wa Kainga follows Scott-McGregor’s journey in regaining her cultural independence. By photographing the cultural distance some Maori feel from their whakapapa, Scott-McGregor reflects on her colonised relationship with herself. Showcasing how relationships with a physical place can regain matauranga whanau. Existing within both Maori and Pakeha worlds, the artist experiences how photographs taken by tamariki Maori have the ability to visually reclaim Tikanga.

Thanks to Te Whare Hēra Wellington International Artist Residency.