Join Brian Martin, Carl Mika and Te Kahuratai Moko-Painting who will talk about Indigenous concepts of time, connection and place alongside the Dowse Art Museum exhibition Whetūrangitia/Made As Stars.
With topics like Indigenous philosophy, the politics of place and the power of language to define how we think about non-Western histories and whakapapa (lineage), each speaker will give a presentation on their own thinking connecting with some of the themes in the exhibition.
The exhibition Whetūrangitia/Made As Stars explores Indigenous relationships with atua (gods). The 13 artists featured delve into Indigenous futurism, connections with tūpuna (ancestors) and notions of time and space. The works in the exhibition show gods as both superheroes and family members. They elevate personal histories to mythic legends.
Brian Martin is a Professor and the director of Wominjeka Djeembana Indigenous Research Lab and is a descendant of Bundjalung, Kamilaroi and Muruwari peoples. Martin has been a practising artist for thirty years and has exhibited both nationally and internationally specifically in the media of painting and drawing. His research and practice focus on refiguring creative practice and culture from an Indigenous perspective based on a reciprocal relationship to “Country”. Martin was the inaugural Associate Dean Indigenous at Monash University Art, Design and Architecture and is also Honorary Professor of Eminence at Centurion University of Technology and Management in Odisha, India, Board Director National Theatre Melbourne, Board Member for Shepparton Art Museum and the Melbourne Art Foundation.
Carl Mika is Māori of the Tuhourangi iwi and a Professor in Aotahi: School of Māori and Indigenous Studies, University of Canterbury, specialising in Māori and Indigenous philosophy, with a particular focus on its revitalisation within a colonised reality. He has written for the Istanbul Biennale 2022 and has contributed to a number of visual art forums. Committed to investigating indigenous notions of holism, Mika wrote Indigenous Education and the Metaphysics of Presence (2017, Routledge), along with numerous articles and chapters, on the issue of colonisation and reductionism. Mika has experience teaching and researching in education and mātauranga Māori, the law, and global studies, and continues to contribute to philosophical discussions arising around matauranga Māori and science.
Te Kahuratai Moko-Painting is Ngāpuhi - Ngāti Manu, Te Popoto who is currently researching the Maramataka (Māori lunar-stellar-ecological calendar) and whakapapa of Ngāti Manu. He is a Kaiwhakaako – Teaching Fellow in the School of Biological Sciences and Te Ao Māori Curriculum Development Manager for the Faculty of Science at Waipapa Taumata Rau – University of Auckland. He has just completed a Master of Marine Conservation on Ngā Tohu o te Maramataka - exploring the maramataka of Ngāti Manu in kaitiakitanga. Te Kahuratai is passionate about mātauranga Māori and Indigenous knowledge leading science education and research to redefine science for the next generation of Indigenous Scientists.
Then join us to celebrate the launch of the brand-new publication Whetūrangitia/Made As Stars, from The Dowse Art Museum. The book features images from the exhibition accompanied by 9 essays from a range of scholars from Aotearoa and beyond including contributions from Brian Martin, Carl Mika and Te Kahuratai Moko-Painting.