The Stories We Tell Ourselves

At the heart of every art museum is its collection—but what inspires a work of art to be made and why is it collected for the community?

The Stories We Tell Ourselves considers the importance of artists to The Dowse Collection and how the stories they tell us through their art helps define who we are today.

Highlighting how people create meaning through art, this exhibition brings together anecdotes about personal memories, oral traditions, the environment and social sciences with a selection of art we’ve collected over the past four years.

The Stories We Tell Ourselves features artworks by Aaron Scythe (Morehu), Areez Katki, Craig McIntosh, Frances Stachl (Ngāpuhi), Gavin Hipkins, Hana Rakena (Ngāpuhi,Ngāi Tahu), Hiria Anderson (Rereahu, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Apakura), Maioha Kara (Waikato, Ngāti Kahungungu, Te Arawa, Ngāti Porou), Malcolm Ross, Raewyn Walsh, Tia Ranginui (Ngāti Hine Oneone) and Vita Cochran.

This exhibition is part of The Dowse Art Museum’s 50th Anniversary programme. It’s the third in a series of exhibitions in 2021 that considers different aspects from The Collection, as explored in such projects as Ways of Being (2019) and The Mind in the Hand (2016).

Image: Craig McIntosh, Pakohe Pendant No. 1, 2014. Collection of The Dowse Art Museum, purchased 2019