Kura Huna

Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngā Mokopuna with Shannon Te Ao (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Wairangi, Pāpaka-a-Māui) and Hendrix Hennessy-Ropiha (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Raukawa)

Courtenay Place Light Boxes
Wellington

21 July – 9 October 2023

Kura Huna is a new Matariki light box exhibition by the tauira of Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngā Mokopuna, mentored by Te Whanganui-a-Tara based artists Shannon Te Ao (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Wairangi, Pāpaka-a-Māui) and Hendrix Hennessy-Ropiha (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Raukawa).

Kura Huna asks us to consider what is important to us. Timely during Matariki and Puanga, as times to come together and reflect upon where you are.

Te Ao and Hennessy-Ropiha worked with tauira from years 9 -13 over several months to create a series of photographic images for Kura Huna. The project began at Te Rau Karamu Marae at the Pukeahu campus of Massey University. Ngā Mokopuna were welcomed onto the marae and introduced to the story of its creation. This experience led to reflections on the importance of connecting to te taio and place in the process of making their own artworks.

The group worked through a range of photographic approaches including digital camera work, darkroom experimentation, lighting and projection. Rangatahi were invited to think about ways to explore time, place and movement and to connect this to ideas.

The light box artworks feature striking portraits of the students taken in a photographic studio. Tauira created unique backgrounds by making photograms through placing objects between light sensitive paper and a light source. The photograms were projected as backgrounds for the portraits and combined with studio lighting effects.

“Kura Huna poses a fun, surprising and youthful way to think about who we are and where we are.” says Shannon. “I wanted these rangatahi to create the kind of work that they wanted to see in public space, during this time, Matariki and, to be able to stand in front of the light boxes and feel a spark in themselves and hopefully more mahi like this.”

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