InDigiNous

InDigiNous Aotearoa

Virtual Histories / Augmented Realities

New Zealand Māori artists working within digital environments

01 December 2017 – 20 January 2018

Opening Reception: December 01, 2017 from 8pm to 11pm

Where: Urban Shaman Aboriginal Art Gallery, 203-290 McDermot Ave. Winnipeg, MB

Artists: Reweti Arapere, Hana Rakena, Rachael Rakena, Kereama Taepa, Suzanne Tamaki, Johnson Witehira, Rangituhia Hollis

Virtual histories are a form of fictional writing that apply a ‘what if’ scenario to history. For example, ‘what if Christopher Columbus did not discover the Americas’, or ‘what if Able Tasman did not discover New Zealand’? Of course neither Columbus nor Tasman were responsible for discovering either of those lands, and the artists in this exhibition explore this idea of ‘virtual histories’ in relation to these types of so called ‘true histories’.

The artworks in this exhibition are made by seven Māori artists from Aotearoa New Zealand who use digital media to create real and virtual spaces for Indigenous knowledge. The exhibition includes a range of media from virtual reality and augmented reality artworks, through to video games, projection installation and 3D printing. Each artwork critiques dominate histories and perceptions of Indigenous peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand, and postulates on how different the world might be for Indigenous peoples in the future.

Exhibition curator Reuben Friend says, “the exhibition includes some of the leading figures currently working in Māori digital art and is a major chance to review how Māori digital media has advanced over the past ten years”.