Taa E Kōrero Ana - Marks That Speak

Taa e kōrero ana - Marks that speak

Taa e kōrero ana, is a compelling exhibition of new works and explorations by Vanessa Wairata Edwards. This body of work is the visual component of Vanessa’s final year Master of Māori Visual Arts and in many ways this is a full circle moment as she reflects upon her post graduate show at Taupō Museum 2020, 'Social Amnesia: He taonga tonu te wareware - forgetfulness should be reckoned with always'.

These new works are continuing a conversation started many years ago when facing the inherently fragmented colonised identities of growing up in Aotearoa and trying to reconcile them. Identities
where the mainstream faith, values and use of language have been at odds with indigenous worldviews. It speaks to the history of textualising the Māori language as part of the process of colonisation. The full circle moment these works are presented within contemplate the dance of duality, walking in two worlds and the multitude of life between the sky and the earth. (Whitney Nicholls-Potts)

Taa e korero ana - Marks that speak, is a print exhibition that contributes to the development of a Māori approach to printmaking. Inspired by researching the introduction of the printing press to Aotearoa and the consequent effects on Māori I take a close look at my own personal colonial bias. As a well educated, catholic, Māori wahine I have been colonised and I examine my relationship with colonisation through the history of the printing press. Its introduction to the Bay of Islands in the early 1840s, the development of a written Māori language by the missionaries as a means to indoctrinate and evangelise the savages followed by the banning of Te Reo Māori in the education systems, not to mention issues of interpretation and translation that have caused our people struggles without end all identify the power of language and the written word. This exhibition reclaims text as visual culture, allowing Māori frameworks to recontextualise the written word as pattern and motif to invoke a feeling or memory. This work challenges the viewer to consider their own bias, their own relationship with colonisation and what that means for our future.

Taupō Museum is open from 10am to 4.30pm daily and entry is free for Taupō District residents with proof of address. With changing exhibitions and activities, there is always something new to discover. Find out more at www.taupo.govt.nz/museum.