Contemporary artist creatively starts Wairau Māori Art Gallery’s workshops

Wairau Maori Art Gallery kaimānga mātauranga Geva Downey (front left) and artist Wayne Youle (right) work with students from I Have a Dream.
New Zealand’s first public art gallery dedicated to Māori art is hoping to inspire the next generation by holding workshops for school students.
Wairau Māori Art Gallery, which is nestled inside Whangārei’s Hundertwasser Art Centre, wants to eventually hold workshops for all schools interested.
The gallery kicked off its workshops with a bang last week, with Canterbury-based contemporary artist Wayne Youle working with a small number of schools.
Youle – who describes himself as Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whakaeke and Ngāti Pākehā descent – has produced a wide body of contemporary work incorporating sculpture, painting, print and design since graduating from the Wellington Polytechnic School of Design in 1999.
He has been an artist in residence for at least three venues, including in Sydney, and exhibited all over New Zealand plus in overseas hot spots like Berlin.
But when asked what he teaches students during his workshops, Youle remains humble: “I try and avoid telling them anything – I just want to open up avenues for them”.
Youle said his main aim is to get students to lose their inhibitions and be creative, whatever form that creativity takes.
“It’s more about the creative tools – and some of these things I use in the studio when I’m stuck: I still draw, I still look through magazines.”
His piece currently on display at Wairau Māori Art Gallery is the perfect example of creatively using humour and wordplay, and pushing the boundaries of what art is.
Called I’ll be the one wearing the pink carnation, standing in the corner (sweating), the mixed-media artwork features a shower curtain, with lower legs peeking out through the bottom.
The piece reflects Youle’s childhood desire to hide his identity while remaining present, a sentiment stemming from his experiences growing up in Wellington’s Porirua, as a white-passing boy of Māori and Pākehā heritage.
Youle said most students have a form of creativity inside them, it is just a matter of unlocking it.
While he grew up in Porirua and now lives in north Canterbury, his whakapapa and tūrangawaewae is Northland’s Kaikohe, which he planned to visit while up here.
Youle held workshops for four select schools, helping students design badges, said Wairau Māori Art Gallery kaimānga mātauranga (educator or feeder of knowledge) Geva Downey.
He was the perfect person to start the workshops because he appeals to students who are Ngāpuhi, as well as those who are not Māori or those who do not know their whakapapa, she said.
Wairau Māori Art Gallery now has the capacity to host artists for workshops throughout the year and it hopes to encourage any schools interested to attend, Downey said.
The gallery is also trying to get funding to help cover transport for schools that are not within walking distance, she said.
Anyone looking for inspiration can view Youle’s piece at Wairau until November 24.
It is part of exhibition Te Mōteatea a Maumahara (A Lament of Remembrance) which features work by four Māori artists exploring the idea of remembering through the lens of cultural identity and resilience.
Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.