X-Marks: Conversations in Cloth
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A fascinating textiles exhibition, on loan from Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi, brings to life the long-silent voices and daily activities of both Māori and Pākehā women from a pivotal period in New Zealand’s history. With historic Mission samplers at its centre, it explores the relationships established between missionary and settler wives and Māori women living in the Bay of Islands in the early 1800s. Textile artists Vivien Caughley, Makareta Jahnke, Maureen Lander, Toi Te Rito Maihi, Dude Beatson, Michelle Mayn, Jo Torr and Helen Schamroth, among others, were each invited to respond to various aspects of these likely exchanges by creating their own pieces, bringing a contemporary understanding to the possible interactions.
Varied cloth techniques are celebrated with weaving, flag-making, garment-making, sampler-making, mawhitiwhiti tauira and blanket-stitching, and detailed introductions by textile scholar Vivien Caughley to each of the exhibition’s eight sections provide context to the displays.
X-Marks: Conversations in Cloth is supported by a grant from Creative Communities, Auckland and will include both a floor talk by Vivien Caughley and a children’s embroidery workshop by award-winning embroiderer Shirley Pygott during its run. For more information on these events visit www.northart.co.nz/public-programmes