For the past almost-couple of weeks we have been travelling Te Ika-a-Māui/ the North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. The purpose of the trip was to attend the Costume and Textiles Symposium Aotearoa New Zealand in Whanganui, a UNESCO City of Design.
CTANZ symposia are always great fun and informative. After all, what could be better than spending time with like-minded folk, listening to people talk about their passions, enthusiasms and work, and being inspired by not only the conversations but also the surroundings. This symposium was no exception.
The event was hosted by Whanganui Regional Museum, and started with a karanga – a Māori call of welcome – into the building. (For those with access here is a link to series about the practice of karanga). This set the scene for formal speeches and replies from both hosts and visitors against a backdrop of taonga Māori (Māori treasures or proud possessions) such as carvings, weavings, costume and decoration. A truly inspiring start to the symposium.
There followed three days of talks and presentations about textiles in the widest possible sense on the theme of Journeys/ Haerenga. This theme was chosen because of the history of Whanganui which is inextricably linked to the river that flows through town. The awa (river) was recognised as a legal person, Te Awa Tupua, in 2017, the first such entity in the world to have that status conferred, and it continues to be a focus for the town. Journeys was an appropriate theme because the river has, for centuries, been a route into and out of the interior of the island.
Each year the breadth of talks and events has been inspiring. This year, for example, there was a tour of backstage at the Museum, including a visit to the large and historically important collection of Māori cloaks and to the textile collection storage as well as talks about natural dyeing, the lifecycle of second-hand shop finds, jewellery and weaving, portraiture through costume and much, much more. To see the full programme use this link where you can download a draft.
In-between the talks we managed to get to the Sarjeant Gallery, a major attraction for art lovers in New Zealand. There we saw excellent pieces from the collection as well as temporary shows. Lorene Taererewa was a highlight. Her drawings in charcoal and sketches in ink (left) are powerful representations of dream-like fragments, brought together in large-scale pictures, with small photographs showing alongside.
Each symposium has an associated dinner. This year’s one was in the old Savage Club – a gentlemen’s club that was founded in London in 1857 by the poet, Richard Savage, hence the name. The Savage Club in Whanganui was housed in a corrugated-iron building with decorated interior and, although the Club itself has been disbanded, the building remains as a venue and as the headquarters of the Whanganui Musician’s Club. Dinner was accompanied by live music and plenty of chatter and laughter.
The three days in Whanganui were a delight and we headed off on the Monday to explore the area around Whanganui and New Plymouth, the subject of another blog entry.
Next year the symposium will be held in Māwhera Greymouth from the 2nd to the 4th April.
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