E Hina e! E Hine e!

E Hina e! E Hine e! explores the contemporary relevance of female Maaori and Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) akua/atua (ancestors). Focusing on our profound connections, and told through contemporary and traditional taonga (treasures), oratory, and visual storytelling, this exhibition celebrates the female essence.

We honour ngaa atua/akua waahine, the divine feminine, embodied in whenua/ʻāina (land), moana (ocean), wai (water), and ngaai tipu, ngaai kiirehe (flora and fauna), to emphasize the importance of mana waahine from time immemorial. Featuring female voices (koorero/moʻolelo) of waahine whom anthropologists and historians omitted from mainstream texts and resources, we seek to restore gender complementarity and balance. The reclamation of the centrality of waahine/women is timely, because presenting (her) stories that manifest in our natural environment illuminates a pathway toward a more sustainable future, imbued with relationship.

Developed by Dr Nālani Wilson-Hokowhitu (Kanaka Maoli), Dr Aroha Yates-Smith (Te Arawa, Tainui, Horouta, Takitimu, Mataatua), and curator Poutiaki Whakataki Maree Mills (Ngaati Tuuwharetoa), this exhibition draws from their research and collective commitment to hear, understand and act on these messages. The continuation of human life on this planet is, in their view, dependent upon it.

Image: Toi Tuu te Whenua, Whatu Ngarongaro te Tangata: People Come and Go but the Land Remains, Oil on canvas, 2019, Regan Balzer (Te Arawa, Ngaati Ranginui, Ngaati Kirihika, Ngaati Maniapoto)