Various Artists with Sofia & Beth

I missed you, Matariki is a new exhibition by Levi Kereama and Whiro Walker at Window Gallery in the University of Auckland General Library. 

The accompanying text reads:

I missed you Matariki.

I needed you yesterday.

There’s been too much mamae.

Too much tangi and too much mate.

Give me a fresh start, a good feast

Give me a glimpse at the ones I’ve lost

and some hope the next season will be a good one

Haere mai, tōku Matariki

I mokemoke au mōu.

Sofia spoke with one of the artists, Levi Kereama, about the kaupapa of the show and his work. 

Beth had a kōrero with Whangārei-based artist Andrea Gardner about her exhibition When Mauve Does the Tango, currently on at The Arts House Trust.

Sofia spoke with Kathryn Tsui about cloud ribbon, an exhibition currently showing at Object Space that explores Kathryn’s own cultural heritage and craft practice by reflecting on intersections of Asian and European cultural histories.

Sofia spoke to Tia about Tūhononga (Cluster and Connection) as well as Huarere: Weather Eye, Weather Ear.

Plus, a bit of Angel Olsen, Elliott Smith and Soccer Mommy to soundtrack your rainy arvo. Does it get better?!

cloud ribbon is a new exhibition by Kathryn Tsui at Object Space. 

Kathryn is a textile based artist who currently lives in Tairua in the Coromandel Peninsula.

In beaded compositions and woven wall-hangings, cloud ribbon explores Kathryn’s own cultural heritage and craft practice by reflecting on intersections of Asian and European cultural histories.

Sofia spoke with Kathryn about the show and some of the research that went into it.

The book, Ans Westra: a Life in Photography by Paul Moon, was released on the 10th of May. 

Westra is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most well known social documentary photographers, best known for her candid black-and-white photography of New Zealand life and culture. 

Some of her most notable photographs included images of life in remote areas, Māori communities, and anti-apartheid protestors who clashed with riot police during the 1981 Springbok tour.

In light of Westra’s death in February 2023, Ans Westra: a Life in Photography is a richly illustrated biography of her life and her remarkable, and sometimes controversial, practice, which continues to be debated today.

Sofia had a kōrero with the author of the book, historian Paul Moon, and Suite Gallery owner and director, David Alsop, who manages the Ans Westra archive and copyright, about Ans Westra: a Life in Photography.