Nephi Tupaea: Assimilation

“Assimilation is about the journey of Māori people adapting to a rapidly changing world through colonisation. For me, assimilation is another way of talking about occupation, but it’s also a story of resilience, survival and adaptation. This exhibition reimagines well-known European paintings through a Māori worldview, using kōwhaiwhai, whakapapa, atua and the landscapes of Aotearoa to reclaim and retell our stories. I’m not interested in rewriting history or pretending it didn’t happen. I’m interested in asking people to look at it differently. The exhibition asks the question: who was really assimilating whom? While Māori were expected to adapt to a new world, our identity, our tikanga and our whakapapa have remained constant. We continue to evolve as a people, but we have never lost sight of who we are or where we come from.”