Tatty Naff opening exhibition

Tatty Naff, an exhibition that reimagines the gallery as a 1970s-inspired whare environment, drawing on domestic design elements of the era. The exhibition integrates Māori material practices with retro interior aesthetics to create a cohesive installation shaped around the principles of communal space, shared making, and the values associated with Matariki.

The project positions the gallery as a lived-in room rather than a formal white‑cube environment. Works reference common features of 1970s Aotearoa domestic interiors — textured fabrics, warm lighting, bamboo, bead detailing, modular seating — and combine these with Māori methods of making, including whatu, whakairo, kōhatu work, and collective construction.

Light functions as a central organising element, with each lighting work referencing the Matariki whetū through its material choices, form, and tone. The exhibition uses these light sources to structure the space and guide movement in a manner aligned with the conceptual architecture of a whare.

Context: 1970s Aotearoa & Māori…