The stories they tell _{by Isabella Smith}

Tāmata means to refresh, restore, revitalise. In the joint exhibition from Bri Leone-Rhea Lawrence (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa) and Geo Aroha Thompson-Skipworth (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Porou), the artists consider the effects of colonial displacement and dispossession, relational restoration, and the strength of Māori communities to rebuild and protect.

Both Bri and Geo are Ōtautahi-based artists. They went on a research trip to the East Coast, visiting Hinemihi marae of Wairoa and Hinerupe marae of Te Araroa to connect with places and histories tied to their whakapapa. The marae are linked through shared yet distinct histories of deterioration and restoration, with the former so run down it needed to be rebuilt, and the latter lost in a fire. “Spending time there reinforced for us the importance of marae as living spaces that hold whakapapa, memory, and intergenerational knowledge”, Geo says. While the marae speak of lasting colonial displacement, they also tell a story of resilience, the strength and mana of community in restoring something that has been lost, and the rebuilding and protection of place and identity.

Bri primarily works with photography and documentary-style mediums. The photographic prints document the trip the artists took, and the realities of their whakapapa. “Photography’s ability to show truths and relate to people’s personal histories is great. Thinking about autoethnography, photography can be used to unpack ideas surrounding both personal and colonial histories.”

The natural materials and organic mediums Geo works with are inseparable from the concepts she explores. Her artworks consist of whenua paintings, photographic prints, and sculptures made from kōwhai seeds, wool, stone, and the claw of a kāhu. “When engaging with ideas such as whakapapa, whenua, and cultural memory, it feels meaningful to work with materials my ancestors would also have used, interpreted in my own way through a contemporary practice.”

The artworks speak of history as an ongoing process. They engage with the past through whenua, traditional knowledge systems, and relationships to place. But at the same time, “they look toward how restoration can exist in the present – not as a return to a fixed past, but as an ongoing, living process of care, reconstruction, and re-connection”.

Tāmata invites viewers to engage with artmaking and to move alongside the process, rather than encounter only the finished works. “The exhibition is as much about process as it is about outcome, inviting the audience to consider how cultural memory is carried, reactivated, and reshaped through making”, the artists say.

On the shared responsibility for supporting restoration projects, Geo says, “Recognising the value of marae as cultural, historical, and living spaces means acknowledging that their care and continuation contributes to a wider understanding of Aotearoa’s identity and history.”

Tāmata will be on display at Meanwhile Gallery until the 24^th of May. Meanwhile is an artist-run gallery, event venue, and studio space that promotes emerging artists. You can find them on Willis Street.