OPENING OF LISA REIHANA EXHIBITION, DIGITAL MARAE

It is a great pleasure to be here tonight for the opening of the Lisa Reihana Exhibition.

The Govett-Brewster is an art gallery that plays an important part in its many communities. It holds pride of place as Taranaki's art gallery, in the city, the region and nationally.
The Govett-Brewster Gallery has a reputation that makes a stand for contemporary art and artists of the Pacific Rim.

It is therefore appropriate that this expanded exhibition of Lisa Reihana's Digital Marae work be exhibited here.
The Govett-Brewster offers a venue for collections that represent contemporary artistic and creative development, thought and expressions. It retains a solid reputation for commitment to contemporary New Zealand art.

It could not do so, however, without strong networks of support.

Whether we are talking about, the present or the future, the question of what constitutes this place we call home is important – both for how we see ourselves, and how the world sees us.

Ideas about what contributes to our country’s identity have changed a lot over the course of a century, partly as we positioned ourselves in the world, and partly as we have become more comfortable with ourselves.

Of critical significance perhaps is our growing willingness to acknowledge both mana whenua and our growing diversity as key components of what defines 21st century New Zealand.
Many different peoples now contribute to New Zealand identity, and we can recognise and celebrate each one of them. It was not always thus – as episodes of intolerance and exclusion in our past has shown particularly here in Taranaki. I hope that a defining feature of 21st century New Zealand will be its inclusion of all who live here.

Our creative people can both reflect and contribute to the shaping of our identity and tonight’s event celebrating the work of Lisa Reihana is testament to this statement.
As Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, I have looked for opportunities for New Zealanders to be able to gain more information about the insights into the events and phenomena which have shaped our country’s identity.

The Creative sector does have big part to play in that. Through the media of screen, performing arts, digital media, radio, literature and the visual arts, we now have many more opportunities to see Aotearoa New Zealand reflected, and learn more about ourselves as a nation.
Diversity is what makes our culture rich and vibrant. Maori views of identity and concepts of ‘New Zealand’ are central to that.

Today we can view Maori art as a potent ingredient in the politics of evolving our national identity.
Maori expressions of creativity have achieved recognition nationally and internationally through some high-profile travelling exhibitions (e.g. Mauri Ora, Eternal threads).

Exhibitions here at home have enhanced understandings of ways in which Mâori and Pacific artists today interpret their worlds and their stories through art works.

Like language, though, the ways in which we express ourselves in writing, in music, or in visual art, change over time.

So many young, emerging artists – doing it their way, with contemporary tools, in electronic and digital media – have helped establish the rights of Mâori and Pacific Islanders to speak for their own culture and for Aotearoa New Zealand as a creative nation in the 21st century.
Technology, and expanding opportunities for travel and for cultural exchange, are transforming our worlds and our futures.

Exhibitions like Paradise Now? at the Asia Society Museum in New York, and like Pasifika Styles, currently gracing the ancient spaces of Cambridge University's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in the UK, speak clearly of the achievements of contemporary Mâori artists.

Lisa has had work in both those prestigious exhibitions, amongst others. She has been awarded honours and opportunities to build on her experience through artist residencies.
She has a depth of experience in creating works in a range of media, and has built a well-respected reputation for doing so with style, panache and assurance, through exhibitions at New Zealand's leading galleries and venues.

Lisa expresses her creativity, her heritage, and the visions she has for her future, through a blend of images that reflect traditional symbols and contemporary technology.
The exhibitions of works overseas speak for artists of the whole Pacific Rim. The Pasifika Styles exhibition of contemporary Pacific art in Cambridge provides a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate to the "Old World" the freshness and strength apparent in Mâori/Pacific art of the 21st century.

Lisa in many senses plays a role as the strong voice of young contemporary Mâori.

She works in a range of media including video, photography, sculpture and fashion.

The mounting of her exhibition Digital Marae here is a major coup for the Govett-Brewster. It will be a unique opportunity for Taranaki people and visitors alike to experience and enjoy the work of a leading contemporary New Zealand artist.

Lisa is described [Pasifika Styles web] as" … playing a leading role in the development of film and multimedia art in Aotearoa, … communicating complex ideas about indigenous identity and bi-cultural living."

My congratulations to you Lisa, and to all those who have had a hand in curating and setting up this exhibition.

I am very honoured to be playing a part in opening Lisa Reihana's exhibition Digital Marae here at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery. I wish you every success.