Taku kurī Series
Self Determination 1.
Enamelled mixed media on Corten steel
After a seven-piece sculptural installation as part of her PhD in 2020, her recent series Kahukura became a catalyst for her seven piece rainbow coloured sculptural installation series. Tāwera presents Taku Kurī, ‘Self Determination’ as part of the exciting exhibition of wahine activist artists. This new series of work, Self Determination is the first solo piece of the Taku Kurī series.
Featuring the Seventh-Generation principle, Self Determination stresses the importance of being good ancestors now, the importance of thriving and not just surviving. The colours, black, white, and red of the Tino Rangatiratanga Flag are referenced, and the important relationships and whakapapa that Tairāwhiti Māori, hold with kurī. Te kurī a Whena, Te kurī a Pāoa, and Te kurī a Tūtekohi, personal relationships with whānau pet kurī, and the significance of Skok Dog and her indigenous links to the Skokomish Nation in so called Washington State, Turtle Island.
‘Man’s best friend’, Self Determination reminds us of the significance of kaitiaki or guardians such as the dog, who guide and inspire our journey throughout life’s many pathways. We are the determiners of our own futures and experience’s. ‘Whakakākahutia ki te Māwhiti’. We determine whether we adorn the chiefly dog skin cloak or not.
Mauri!