Exhibitions
The Blumhardt Gallery of TheNewDowse is a premier applied arts and design Gallery in New Zealand. It promotes extraordinary exhibitions, among which are the exhibitions that result from the work of the Curatorial Intern. The Curatorial Intern is sponsored by the partnership arrangements the Blumhardt Foundation has with Creative New Zealand and TheNewDowse.
2009 Curatorial Internship Exhibition
‘Plastic Māori’ was the culmination of the work done by the 2008-2009 Curatorial Intern Reuben Friend. Reuben called his show ‘Plastic Māori’ because “this slang term refers to a Māori person who is culturally uninformed, but pretends to know their stuff. The show looks at the issue of cultural authenticity in contemporary Māori art, and plays with these ideas of artificial identity and fabrication. A common belief shared by the artists I’ve selected is that a tradition of innovation exists in Māori culture. The artists reinterpret customary artforms in a way that enables them to comment on contemporary issues.”
‘Plastic Māori’ examined the appropriation, commodification and mass production of Māori taonga (treasures), with art works including kowhaiwhai lightboxes, tukutuku puzzle cubes, jewellery, streetwear and even NZ’s most famous plastic Māori – Manu from Playschool.