Taura Here, Immigrant Māori: On Chevron Hassett's Art and Ātea
Taura Here, Immigrant Māori: On Chevron Hassett's Art and Ātea
James Tapsell-Kururangi explores the themes within the work of Chevron Hassett, of whānau, whenua, whakapapa and finding connections in cities, and across oceans.
Essay published on the Pantograph Punch, 7 April 2019
Chevron Hassett, The Waters, Towards Hawaiki (2019), from the series The Children of Maui, exhibited at Meanwhile Gallery, Wellington.
Chevron Hassett, A Place Tū Be, on show at Courtney Place, historically the ground of Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Ruanui
Before attending, I was unaware that Te Matatini, although it is a space for Māori to perform, was also a platform to express contemporary issues Māori are working through. Importantly, it was also a strategic drive to revitalise te reo Māori. Reading over my cousin Paul Tapsell’s (Te Arawa) writing on the marae ātea – a ceremonial space I have taken for granted when attending tangi – and Māori identity, I am humbled, and appreciate the power of the space that Chevron is invoking at Courtenay Place: an idea which has migrated from distant homelands, a space for learning, a place to learn a little about who we are today – Māori in this contemporary urban landscape. In using the term ‘contemporary’ here, I am responding to Christina Barton’s temporal discourse: “What does it mean to be in ‘the contemporary’? When does it begin and where will it end? What are the conditions and how do these manifest? And what role does art play to show what this looks or feels like?” Particularly in light of art history, the ontological question of what does it mean to be contemporary feels ever more pertinent.