Govett-Brewster Seniors

The Govett-Brewster Seniors is a series of talks for older people keen for a regular dose of art and culture.

Join us for free-flowing conversations and experiences of contemporary art inside the current exhibitions. No knowledge of art is needed and everyone is welcome!

Each month we will explore one of the Gallery's current exhibitions or enjoy a guest speaker.

February's session will focus on a new commission by Maioha Kara (Waikato, Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Arawa, Ngāti Porou) in the Open Window Gallery on Queen St, New Plymouth.

Maioha Kara draws on the geometric patterns of Māori and Cook Island art forms, including whakairo, raranga, tukutuku, kōwhaiwhai and tivaevae, to explore the cycles and systems of te ao Māori and the natural world.

Kara considers the rimu body of Salutations to be a taonga. Her shallow excavations on to its surface are designed to engage with the wood’s characteristics and speak to the intricate and interconnected cosmological relationships between the resources of the natural world and matauranga Māori.

Filled with coloured glitter, the carved indentations create a shimmering composition which engages with the wood’s grain to give Salutations a sense of mauri, or energy. The concept of iraira (shine, glitter; have spots) guides Kara’s investigation into and understanding of the cyclical patterns of our internal and external environments. In Salutations, the vibrant colours of the glitter and gallery walls have been inspired by the shifting of the seasons from spring to summer.

Maioha Kara is studying towards a Master of Fine Arts at Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts, Massey University. She recieved a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Massey University in 2018. Her work draws on the principles of toi Māori and narratives of te ao Māori to examine our relationship with the natural world.

Kara's first solo exhibition was with Weasel Gallery, Hamilton in 2019. Kara has also shown at Jhana Millers Gallery, Wellington; Whakatane Museum, Whakatane; Waikato Museum, Hamilton; Millers O'Brien, Wellington and Precinct 35, Wellington, among others. Maioha Kara is represented by Laree Payne Gallery (previously Weasel Gallery), Hamilton.