Wairau Māori Art Gallery

Wairau Māori Art Gallery The Wairau Māori Art Gallery is the first dedicated public Māori art gallery in Aotearoa.

Wairau Māori Art Gallery will celebrate and showcase the best of contemporary Māori art and customary practice in Aotearoa.

23/06/2026

Puanga Matariki has us reflecting on this spatial work by Saffronn Te Ratana, currently on display in our gallery as part of ‘Tātai Tuarangi: Star Seeds, Sound Waves and Ceremonies’.

In this video, Geva Downey shares some of the pūrākau woven through Saffronn’s artwork, including the story of how kūmara came to our world.

Tātai Tuarangi: Star Seeds, Sound Waves and Ceremonies gathers together practices attuned to the sky - to lunar time, celestial movement, seasonal transitions and the vastness of the cosmos. The works of Albert Refiti, Ana Iti, Mara TK, Megan Brady and Saffronn Te Ratana unfold within this moment of heightened celestial awareness, showing 12 April – 19 July 2026.

Curated by Megan Tamati-Quennell with Assistant Curator, Taniora Erihana Tamati-Rakete.

Saffronn Te Ratana
(1975–), Ngāi Tuhoe, Aotearoa/New Zealand
Purapura whetu 2024
paint, carved paint, kokowai, wire, paper, card
on loan from the artist

Murmur, created for Tātai Tuarangi, combines image with text drawn from across ’s practice. Site responsive, it is an in...
25/05/2026

Murmur, created for Tātai Tuarangi, combines image with text drawn from across ’s practice. Site responsive, it is an intimate counterpoint to the broader exhibition, translating celestial concerns into a grounded and embodied register.

In Ana’s offering, the body - stretched across geographies - carries memory, weight, history and articulates the fragility of connection.

Where Tātai Tuarangi looks outward to the movement of stars, lunar cycles, and cosmology, Murmur turns inward. A poetic monologue or form of ritualised address, Ana’s reaches toward someone or something, across space, time, and emotional distance.

The use of Kauri charcoal grounds her work in the Northland landscape, that she also connects to. The repetition of her text - oscillating between arrival and delay - and which can be aligned with the breath, echoes the cyclical patterns of tides, lunar phases and seasonal return.

Ana Iti
(1989–), Te Rarawa, Ngāi Tūpoto, Ngāti Here, and Pākehā
Murmur 2026
kauri charcoal
created for Tātai Tuarangi (12 April - 19 July)

📸

18/05/2026

Geva Downey speaks about Megan Brady’s artwork ‘To sign as water’, featured in Tātai Tuarangi: Star Seeds, Sound Waves and Ceremonies.

Watch the video to hear Geva unpack the work and its connection to place, material, and sensory experience.

Megan Brady, Kai Tahu – Ngāi Tūāhuriri, Pākehā, is known for a site-responsive practice that explores deep connections with place. Through textiles, sculpture, and sensory spatial installations, her work creates contemplative environments for reflection.

Don’t miss this powerful exhibition. Tātai Tuarangi: Star Seeds, Sound Waves and Ceremonies. Is curated by Megan Tamati-Quennell with Assistant Curator Taniora Erihana Tamati-Rakete. On until 19 July.

To sign as water (2025)
rimu, sea glass, aluminium
on loan from a private collector, Wellington

Today calls for a closer look at Saffronn Te Ratana's mesmerising mahi 'Purapura whetu', showing now as part of 'Tatai T...
05/05/2026

Today calls for a closer look at Saffronn Te Ratana's mesmerising mahi 'Purapura whetu', showing now as part of 'Tatai Tuarangi: Star Seeds, Sound Waves and Ceremonies'.

The title of her installation 'Purapura whetu' (2024), can be translated as ‘star seeds’ or ‘star dust’. According to the Saffronn, ‘The installation locates and introduces the stars or astronomical bodies that bring about the transitions of seasons in our Māori year…

Curated by

Saffronn Te Ratana
(1975–), Ngāi Tuhoe, Aotearoa/New Zealand
Purapura whetu 2024
paint, carved paint, kokowai, wire, paper, card
on loan from the artist

📷

Sāmoan architect and academic Dr Albert L Refiti (Leali’ifano, Vaovai, Falealili) explores the concept of vā — the relat...
23/04/2026

Sāmoan architect and academic Dr Albert L Refiti (Leali’ifano, Vaovai, Falealili) explores the concept of vā — the relationships between people, space, and time — through his practice.

His installation Vānimonimo (2024) brings this to life through what he calls “cosmograms” — experimental ethnographic drawings made with pen and pencil on notebook paper. These intricate webs of connection echo genealogies, mapping how ancestral knowledge and belonging move through place and practice.

Created during talanoa — open, inclusive exchanges of ideas — these works act as field notes, capturing moments of encounter across social, cultural, and academic spaces throughout Aotearoa and the wider Pacific. Names, dates, and annotations ground each drawing in time and place, holding stories of connection.

Vānimonimo was first presented in to carry, at the Sharjah Biennial 16 (2025), co-curated by Megan Tamati-Quennell. Currently showing as part of 'Tātai Tuarangi: Star Seeds, Sound Waves and Ceremonies' on until 19 July.

Leali’ifano Albert L Refiti
(1963–), Samoa: Fasito’outa, Vaovai, Vailima, Aotearoa/New Zealand
Vānimonimo
2024
pen, pencil, paper
on loan from the artist
Curated by

📷

Big aroha to all of the whānau, who joined us in celebrating our new exhibition last week- ‘Tātai Tuarangi: Star Seeds, ...
16/04/2026

Big aroha to all of the whānau, who joined us in celebrating our new exhibition last week- ‘Tātai Tuarangi: Star Seeds, Sound Waves and Ceremonies’.

The wairua was high and our cups are full!

Ngā mihi to exhibiting artists , , , & Saffronn Te Ratana, as well as Curator , with .

⭐️Albert L Refiti - Samoan, with the Matai ancestral title Lealiʻifano from his grandfather’s home of Vaovai, Falealili Sāmoa

⭐️Ana Iti - Te Rarawa Ngāti Tūpoto, Ngāti Here, Pākehā

⭐️Mara TK - Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Kahungunu, Kai Tahu

⭐️Megan Brady - Kai Tahu - Ngā Tūahuriri, Pākehā

⭐️Saffronn Te Ratana - Ngāi Tūhoe


Curated by:

Megan Tamati-Quennell - Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Mūtunga, Kāi Tahu - Kāi Te Pahi, Kāi Te Ruahikihiki (Ōtākou) - Curator
with
Taniora Tamati- Rakete - Ngā Puhi, Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Mūtunga, Kāi Tahu - Kāi Te Pahi, Kāi Te Ruahikihiki (Ōtākou) - Assistant Curator

📷 Alan Squires
Event Sponsors

Join us for our Artist Talks with Curator: Megan Tamati-Quennell, to discuss our stunning show ‘Tātai Tuarangi: Star See...
09/04/2026

Join us for our Artist Talks with Curator: Megan Tamati-Quennell, to discuss our stunning show ‘Tātai Tuarangi: Star Seeds, Sound Waves and Ceremonies’.

Sunday 12, 10:30, FREE
Featuring
Mara TK
(Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Kahungunu, Kai Tahu, Aotearoa/New Zealand)

Saffronn Te Ratana
(Ngāi Tuhoe, Aotearoa/New Zealand)

Leali’ifano Albert L Refiti
(Samoa: Fasito’outa, Vaovai, Vailima, Aotearoa/New Zealand)

Megan Brady
(Kai Tahu – Ngāi Tūāhuriri, Pākehā)

Ana Iti
(Te Rarawa, Ngāi Tūpoto, Ngāti Here, and Pākehā)

Curated by Megan Tamati-Quennell
(Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Mūtunga, Kāi Tahu - Kāi Te Pahi, Kāi Te Ruahikihiki (Ōtākou)

with Taniora Tamati-Rakete
(Ngā Puhi, Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Mūtunga, Kāi Tahu - Kāi Te Pahi, Kāi Te Ruahikihiki (Ōtākou)

We are excited to announce our upcoming exhibition Tātai Tuarangi: Star Seeds, Sound Waves and Ceremonies, featuring art...
06/04/2026

We are excited to announce our upcoming exhibition Tātai Tuarangi: Star Seeds, Sound Waves and Ceremonies, featuring artists Albert Refiti, Ana Iti, Mara TK, Megan Brady and Saffronn Te Ratana.

Tātai Tuarangi: Star Seeds, Sound Waves and Ceremonies gathers together practices attuned to the sky - to lunar time, celestial movement, seasonal transitions and the vastness of the cosmos. By chance, the exhibition period of Tātai Tuarangi, crosses into the season of Matariki, the rising of the star cluster that signals both an astronomical event and a cultural observance grounded in remembrance, collective reflection and renewal.

🎉Opening Evening Saturday 11 April 6pm,
Artist Talks with Megan Tamati-Quennell Sunday 12 April 10:30am
Open to the public 12 April - 19 July 2026

Mara TK
(Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Kahungunu, Kai Tahu, Aotearoa/New Zealand)

Saffronn Te Ratana
(Ngāi Tuhoe, Aotearoa/New Zealand)

Leali’ifano Albert L Refiti
(Samoa: Fasito’outa, Vaovai, Vailima, Aotearoa/New Zealand)

Megan Brady
(Kai Tahu – Ngāi Tūāhuriri, Pākehā)

Ana Iti
(Te Rarawa, Ngāi Tūpoto, Ngāti Here, and Pākehā)

Curated by Megan Tamati-Quennell
(Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Mūtunga, Kāi Tahu - Kāi Te Pahi, Kāi Te Ruahikihiki (Ōtākou)

with Taniora Tamati- Rakete
(Ngā Puhi, Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Mūtunga, Kāi Tahu - Kāi Te Pahi, Kāi Te Ruahikihiki (Ōtākou)

Last days to view our current show ‘Nikau Hindin: Tai Timu, Tai Pari’ in person. On until 29 March. “As the tides retre...
27/03/2026

Last days to view our current show ‘Nikau Hindin: Tai Timu, Tai Pari’ in person. On until 29 March.

“As the tides retreat, the kiriaute casts her eye upon these new landscapes. Each inhale and exhale impressed like waves onto the sand. Each kahu aute, a wānanga captured. A remembering. A telling, and retelling of our stories of creation.” – Haylee Koroi

Tai Timu
2025
Ngārahu, kōkōwai, and pukepoto on aute.
1490 x 560 mm

Tai Pari
2025
Ngārahu, kōkōwai, kerewhenua, tānekaha, and pukepoto on aute.
1790 x 610 mm

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