Illuminating Pacific journey with art

What role does light play in our lives? Whether it shines or not, we live in submission to the sun. In reverence to it, in awe of it. We dedicate countless lifetimes to making sense of the flickering motions dotting our skies.

We rely on the circadian rhythm of light for our sanity and on the process of photosynthesis for the health of our physical selves, a process so integral to our wellbeing that we would be lost without it.

Just as the roads to enlightenment are countless, in our arts the many forms that a beam of light can take are infinite.

This concept is brought together magnificently in works showcased in Tūrama at Porirua’s Pātaka Art + Museum, a collection of artworks exploring the use of light.

The show includes a number of Pātaka’s most exciting pieces from its collection and a few notable mentions on loan.

The collection uses the themes of light, whakapapa and transformation to bind the works together and take the beholder on a journey to introspective enlightenment.

To start, there is a mammoth contribution by the legendary Buck Nin (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Toa) called Fragmented Societies (1990). The work pays reverence to our creation story, in which the light that erupts during the separation of Papatūānuku rāua kō Ranginui, known as Te Ao Mārama, is depicted. This offering to the inception of life as we know it is a solid foundation from which to explore the themes presented within the show.

Alongside this is a contemplative contribution by Japanese and Samoan New Zealand artist Yuki Kihara entitled Mokopuna Leper Island from Quarantine Islands (2021). The work explores the tribulations of quarantine during the polarising leprosy epidemic and the pandemic our society most recently experienced. Through this lenticular photograph, Kihara seems to implore that we explore the isolation of quarantine and the effect that hope has upon the spirit.

One standout piece from within the collection is a lightbox titled Embrace, Polynesian Series (2005) by Niki HastingsMcFall, of Sāmoan and Pākehā descent.

The piece uses bright fuchsia toned lei interspersed across a web within a framed box which allows flecks of a bright white LED light to shine behind. The whole piece gives one the impression of a canopy of bold hope shining through.

In The Bosom of Abraham (1999), Michael Parekowhai (Ngā Ariki, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Rongowhakaata) sends wisps of nights sleeping under the whakairo laden ceilings of a wharenui through the gallery landscape. As someone who became obsessed with the rhythm of whakairo patterns as a child, the sight of white, red earth and black shapes that curve out from the wall in a spherical nod to the shape of wood was comforting to say the least. The series of curved light boxes with traditional whakairo patterns painted across are a soothing nod to the memories encased within each design.

Also of particular interest is the effervescent Navarro Tukutuku (2014-16)

by the infamous and legendary artist Bob Jahnke (Ngai Taharora, Ngati Porou). The cascading light of the word tukutuku written in neon tubing, as it disappears into the layers of a mirrored box inverts the idea of tukutuku patterns to create a juxtaposition of the word ‘‘tuku’’ itself (meaning to release, relinquish, descend).

However, it is the truly breathtaking work of Israel Tangaroa-Birch (Ngā Puhi, Ngāi Tawake, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Rakaipaaka) that is sure to sweep you off your feet. As an established artist using multiple media, Tangaroa-Birch brings a level of mātauranga and depth to the collection that is as stunning visually as it is conceptually.

Ara-i-te-uru (2011) is an ode to the creation stories of our whakapapa, using light to illuminate the pathway taken for the iwi of Ngā Puhi to arrive here in

Aotearoa. The use of a bold orange speaks to the red earth clay hidden under our feet.

The shape it takes inevitably leads one’s mind to the miles and miles of ocean traversed to find this earth underfoot.

This collection of work by some of our most innovative artists is sure to be a massive drawcard for the light seekers of this summer’s lingering breeze.

If you, like many of us, are trying to find a calm space from which to escape the heat of the sun – head to Pātaka and let the airconditioned, moodily lit gallery space transport you back to light’s infinite potential. It is a must see.

What, where, when

Tūrama: Light Collection is showing at Pātaka Art + Museum until February 26, 2023.