Whare Taonga

Whare Taonga
Alexis Neal & Rona Ngahuia Osborne


The wharenui (meeting-house) is a universally acknowledged symbol of traditional Māori culture. Being the central focus of most marae, the experiences of the wharenui are memorable and significant. Wharenui are places of peace and growth, learning and understanding.
This installation explores the artists shared and individual relationships with the concept of wharenui.  Together they have examined some of the key functions of the wharenui, by creating two ‘whare-like’ interior spaces. Firstly the Whare Tūpuna (ancestral house) that looks backward into history and acknowledges the collective whakapapa; it shelters and comforts. Secondly the Whare Wānanga (house of learning) looks toward the future, enriches an awareness of the universe, teaches valuable skills and provides connections to community.
As a collaborative art project installation the artists have a diverse, multidisciplinary approach which includes printmaking, weaving, and textile techniques. Printing and stitch craft, being traditionally European art forms, are used to render a distinctly Māori world view reflecting on biculturalism in Aotearoa-New Zealand.

Rona Ngahuia Osborne’s (Clan Fyfe, Clan Caduggan, Kai Tahu, BFA Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland University) textile moenga (beds) primarily references cultural and historical themes in Aotearoa, combining strong Māori imagery with colonial symbols, a reflection of Osborne’s own family’s heritage. Her blankets evolved out of the historical importance of blankets as objects traded by the European for Māori land. Implicit in Osborne’s work is an understanding about the mana (spiritual power) and the accumulated stories associated with handmade items that have been passed down.
As an artist Alexis Neal (Te Ati Awa, MFA Slade School of Fine Arts, London) examines issues of cultural identity. In Whare Taonga, Neal investigates the form and traditional implications of whariki (floor mats). Whariki are customarily laid beneath the mattress of an overnight visitor of distinction, placed beneath a coffin during the tangihanga (funeral) as a mark of respect or at the birth of an important child. This whariki series honours such occasions. Neal combines printmaking with Māori weaving techniques to push the print medium into three dimensional works.
This immersive installation moves beyond the re-creation of the aesthetic structure of the wharenui, celebrating the human presence within this extraordinary space. Viewers may choose to sit or lie on the beds, to make themselves at home and take in the space.

Rona Ngahuia Osborne (Clan Fyfe, Clan Caduggan, Kai Tahu)
Rona Ngahuia Osborne’s work primarily references cultural and historical themes in Aotearoa, combining strong Māori imagery with colonial symbols, a reflection of Osborne’s own family’s heritage. Her practice is based around the two central interwoven ideas of biculturalism and trade.
Osborne recognises that diverse cultural perspectives become more pronounced when viewed in the context of trade. Her blankets evolved out of the historical importance of blankets as objects traded by the European for Māori land. However the blankets as domestic items relate to whakapapa and tradition from both a Māori and a Pakeha perspective. Stories become associated with handmade items, each owner adding their individual layer of experience to an object thereby increasing its value exponentially. Implicit in Osborne’s work is an understanding about the mana (spiritual power) of an object, imbuing it with spiritual value deserving of reverence, which in turn drives the quality of craftsmanship.  Osborne says, “Imbued with the wairua of the past the blanket f77  orms intimate associations.”
Rona Ngahuia Osborne holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland University.

Alexis Neal (Te Ati Awa)
As an artist Alexis Neal examines issues of cultural identity. In Whare Taonga, Neal investigates the form, function and traditional implications of the whariki (floor mats). Whariki are customarily laid beneath the mattress of an overnight visitor of distinction, placed beneath a coffin during the tangihanga (funeral) as a mark of respect or at the birth of an important child. This whariki series honours such occasions.
Printmaking is the fundamental backbone of Neal’s art practice and through her recent study of Māori weaving she combines these techniques, to push the print medium into three dimensional works. Neal says, “My works are an adaptation of traditional weaving patterns but put into my own artistic format.”
In 2000 Alexis Neal gained a Masters degree from the Slade School of Fine Arts, London.