John Daly-Peoples has reviewed Ki Mua, Ki Muri: 25 years of Toiohi ki Āpiti edited by Cassandra Barnett and Kura Te Waru-Rewiri:
‘When the exhibition Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art opened at the Auckland Art Gallery three years ago many people were surprised at the range and depth of the contemporary Māori art on view providing new insights into Māori culture as well as an understanding of New Zealand culture.
One of the catalysts behind the exhibition and much of the new contemporary Māori art was “Toioho ki Āpiti” the Māori Arts programme which has been offered at Massey University,
The importance of these courses can be appreciated in the new book “Ki Mua, Ki Muri”, which details the establishment and development of the Māori arts programme at the University which now has a global reach, with impacts on national and international contemporary art and culture.
Nigel Borell, the curator of the Toi Tū Toi Ora: exhibition was a graduate of “Toioho ki Āpiti” and also a contributor to Ki Mua, Ki Muri says in a forward, “the exhibition’s thesis and political will to centre a Māori framework and cultural paradigm as a way to discuss contemporary Māori art was directly shaped by the theoretical and conceptual teachings of the Toioho ki Āpiti programme”.
Toioho ki Āpiti’s Māori-led programme and its educational model is structured around Māori notions of Mana Whakapapa (inheritance rights), Mana Tiriti (treaty rights), Mana Whenua (land rights) and Mana Tangata (human rights) and is unique in Aotearoa.’
Read the full review on New Zealand Arts Review here.
