Mata Aho Collective in Conversation with Contemporary Hum about Dhaka Art Summit

Mata Aho Collective is a collaboration between four Māori women who produce large scale fiber based works, commenting on the complexity of Māori lives. In the last of their series focusing on the Asia region, online art publishing platform Contemporary HUM’s Editor Pauline Autet interviews the Mata Aho Collective on their recent participation at the Dhaka Art Summit in Bangladesh.

Having taken place in February 2020, the Dhaka Art Summit brought together artists, curators, performers and thinkers for a week-long programme of exhibitions, panel discussions, performances and symposia, with the Mata Aho Collective partaking in panel discussions and practising a type of waiata (song) called a pātere.

‘We’re still learning and developing ways to talk about our practice to lots of different people, to give some sense of where we’re coming from. And we just always hope that our work can hold its own in whatever context it’s in and that people can get something from it, whether they know the full concept or not.’ – Mata Aho Collective. Read the conversation in full here on HUM.

The conceptual framework of the Mato Aho Collective is founded within the contemporary realities of mātauranga Māori. We produce works with a single collective authorship that are bigger than our individual capabilities.

Living in Aotearoa New Zealand, the Mata Aho Collective is:
Erena Baker (Te Atiawa ki Whakarongotai, Ngāti Toa Rangātira) completed a Masters in Māori Visual Arts with First Class Honours through Massey University, Palmerston North in 2009.

Sarah Hudson (Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe) completed a Masters in Fine Arts with high distinction
through Massey University in 2010.

Bridget Reweti (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi) completed a Masters in Māori Visual Arts
with First Class Honours at Massey University, Palmerston North and also holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Museum Studies from Victoria University, Wellington.

Terri Te Tau
(Rangitāne ki Wairarapa) completed a PhD in Fine Arts at Massey University in Palmerston North in 2015. She holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Māori Visual Arts and a Bachelor of Māori Visual Arts Massey University.

Image credit:
Mata Aho Collective at Dhaka Art Summit, February 2020. Photo: Contemporary HUM