Tuku iho cannot be hung on a wall. But it can fill a gallery.
This month, four exhibitions open at the Whakatāne Art Gallery, each one a different expression of the same thread, knowledge, stories, and practice passed down across generations.
The suite brings together Ngāti Awa artists in conversation with taonga/treasures, a community of weavers from Te Teko, intimate portraits of kuia that haven't been seen in Whakatāne for thirty years, and a dedicated space celebrating tamariki and mokopuna.
Together, they are connected by a single aho/common line of descent - kōrero tuku iho, taonga tuku iho, mātauranga tuku iho - each exhibition contributing a different dimension of that whakapapa/geneaology.
"It was really important that Ngāti Awa were the first to hold the space in our newly refreshed gallery," says Aimee Ratana, Manager Arts and Heritage, Collections and Research.
"These exhibitions aren't just filling a reopened building; they are activating it. They are the right stories for this moment."
After more than 14 years without a significant refresh, the gallery temporarily closed so the Arts and Heritage team could reimagine the space, creating dynamic new areas designed to draw visitors of all ages back into a place where art, identity, and community converge.
E Ara Te Awa opens the suite, centring whakapapa, kōrero tuku iho, and the connections between taonga and toi/art.
The exhibition brings together Ngāti Awa artists in dialogue with taonga from Te Whare Taonga o Taketake - Whakatāne Museum collection, drawing from the waiata tang/lament Te Tangi a Tamapāhore to trace ancestral pathways and explore how whakapapa continues to shape contemporary practice - across paint, fibre, carving, and image.
Artists include Dr Turumakina Duley, Dr Zena Elliott, Lewis Gardiner, Glenda Hape, Sonny Hape, Joe Harawira, Takutaimoana Harawira, Te Marunui Hotene, Erena Koopu, Kauri Wharewera, and Maia Wharewera-Ballard.
Te Teko Rōpū Raranga/Te Teko Weaving Group adds another dimension through collective practice.
Guided by Priscilla (Cilla) Morrison, a community of weavers gathers regularly in Te Teko to share knowledge and continue the practice of raranga/weaving - tuku iho expressed through hands, passed on in community, one generation to the next.
Artists include Priscilla Morrison, Roberta Elliot, Richard Anderson, Taima Waikato, Kongahenuku Hunia, Emma Thomas, Mark Sykes-Potae, Nancy Kohu and Julie Ngamotu.
Kuia Moko - Portraits by Harry Sangl sits within this suite as an acknowledgement of the kuia and their deep connections to this rohe/region.
In the early 1970s, Prague-born artist Harry Sangl (1922–2023) travelled throughout the Eastern Bay of Plenty and across the North Island, building relationships with each woman and her whānau before painting their portrait.
The 34 resulting works have not been exhibited in Whakatāne since 1994.
Their return acknowledges moko kauae/traditional female chin tattoo as intergenerational knowledge made visible, identity and continuity carried on the face.
In the Matapihi space, Te Kura o te Pāroa completes the suite, bringing representation to tamariki and mokopuna across multiple reanga/generations. The thread of tuku iho, traced through artists, weavers, and kuia, arrives here - with the youngest among them, and the generations still to come.
The community is invited to the opening evening on Friday, 8 May.
