January 16, 2013
Māori art major part of Pataka kaupapa
The new director of Porirua’s Pataka Art Museum is promising a continued focus on contemporary Māori and Pacific art.
Helen Kedgley, who replaces Darcy Nicholas, has been the curator at the museum since it opened in 1998.
"Pataka is doing very well. I don't feel the need to make too many drastic changes. In terms of visitor numbers, they're down in some institutions. Fortunately, ours are up," she says.
Almost 180,000 people visited the gallery in the year to June 30, 2013, about 10 percent above target.
She says from the start the exhibition programme has reflected the makeup of the Porirua community, which is 27 per cent Pacific Islanders, 21 per cent Māori and most of the rest Pakeha.
“Pataka has been truly multicultural.”
Exhibitions Kedgley has curated include The Eternal Thread – The Changing Art of Māori Weaving, which was launched in San Francisco, and Samoa Contemporary, the first large-scale exhibition of contemporary Samoan art featuring Shigeyuki Kihara, Greg Semu, Fatu Feu'u, Graham Fletcher and Niki Hastings-McFall.
Last year’s show of Otago artist Grahame Sydney attracted record numbers of visitors.
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