Nekenekehia Tukua

Touring Exhibition
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NEKENEKEHIA! MOVE! 
TUKUA! SEND IT OUT! 

Nekenekehia Tukua is a trail-blazing exhibition from Taranaki-based kaihoahoa toi (artist designer) WharehokaSmith, created in partnership with Puke Ariki. 

It reconnects toi Māori with daily life, presenting it as embedded in our everyday world, as it was originally. Nekenekehia Tukua is:

  • A wero – a challenge to expand our understanding of toi Māori
  • A glimpse of what Aotearoa might look like if Te Tiriti were honoured
  • Embodied toi Māori – a place for art making, where everyone can 
    experience, participate, kōrero, contemplate.

Space for Kōrero

At a time when Te Tiriti is again being questioned, there’s a pressing need for informed, respectful kōrero around its ongoing relevance. 

Nekenekehia Tukua provides a welcoming space to hold wānanga with local communities, inviting local artists, thinkers, teachers, and students to share their thoughts and practices.

  • What might Aotearoa look like if Māori art and design shaped our built environment?
  • What stories lie beneath the concrete landscapes we live in today?
  • How does our built environment affect our sense of self and belonging, and the conversations we feel able to have?

Download the exhibition profile

Touring exhibition content 

Customisable to suit different venue spaces

  • 3D artworks: Multiple large structural forms and small sculptures 
  • 2D artworks: Wall-based works and free-standing canvases 
  • Curved digital mural (23m x 2.4m) with accompanying booklet
  • 2 x interactive play tables (sculpture-based)
  • Custom-designed furniture with accompanying booklet on symbols and concepts
  • Audio of WharehokaSmith interviewed by Te Ingo Ngaia (Māori language teacher/writer), 
    with taongo puoro 
  • Soundscape of wood carving and poi 
  • Labels for artworks, and bilingual poetic labels for large forms (audio of WharehokaSmith 
    reciting them via QR code) 
  • Memorandum of Understanding between WharehokaSmith and Puke Ariki

 

‘This is a game-changing template for institutional relationships with Māori. Puke Ariki have invested in a touring option for the exhibition, and that means this conversation continues. Tukua!’
Maree Mills (Ngāti Tūwharetoa), Curator Tangata Whenua, Waikato

 

Exhibition options

Full exhibition

  • Ceiling height: 5 metres
  • Floor space: 350 square metres
  • Wall space: 65 running metres
  • Fee: $7,500/month
  • Duration: 4 months minimum

Partial exhibition 

  • The full exhibition is large in both its footprint and the required height. However, it is modular, and very flexible/scalable. Please send us a floor plan of your gallery and we can then establish appropriate content, fee, and duration

Additional costs

  • Freight
  • Installation support
  • Artist expenses for public programming, installation, and opening - to be organised directly.