Portfolio of Work
Ngahina's first solo exhibition Roimata Toroa was in 2007 at the GovettBrewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth. Her large scale installation work Roimata Toroa, now forms an important part of the Govett-Brewster Collection.
From her early works to now Ngahina has continued to expand and evolve into contemporary sculpture employing digital moving image, metals, recycled woolen blankets and other mixed media sculptural forms. In 2009, Ngahina exhibited her multimedia installation Paopao Ki Tua o Rangi in the group show 'Fresh out of Always politically charged, Ngahina's the Box' at Puke Ariki Museum, New artworks explore a discourse of the continuation of colonisation and cultural Plymouth. Shortly after, she traveled collision in New Zealand, her art stands to Sweden to exhibit another fibre installation work Patuki Manawa in the as a re-assertion of mana tangata whenua - the reclaiming self determining group show 'Fibra Spirare', an exhibition that showcased New Zealand fibre indigenous voice and space. artists. With a Masters of Māori Visual Arts Massey University, Ngahina’s public Also in 2009, her large poi installations exhibition history now spans over a Roimata Toroa and Paopao ki tua o decade, her work has been exhibited Rangi comprised her solo exhibition throughout New Zealand and overseas, Ngahina Hohaia that launched the including Sydney, Hawaii, and Sweden. City Gallery Wellington's new Roderick and Gillian Deane Gallery dedicated In 2007, she began her postgraduate to Māori and Pacific Art. Both of studies towards a Masters of Māori these installations were configurations Visual Arts, and in the same year was of hundreds of hand woven poi a recipient of a Te Waka Toi Māori intricately constructed from recycled Arts Board of Creative New Zealand woolen blankets, and embroidered scholarship for Emerging Māori Artists, with symbols relating to the Parihaka and also a recipient of the PKW Charles movement and the legacy of non-violent Bailey Memorial Scholarship. resistance against colonial land-
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grabbing. Ngahina's poi installations are based on the Taranaki tradition of poi manu, and pay tribute to the strength and resilience of the visionary leadership of Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi, and the continued global relevance of their messages of justice and peace. Then in 2010, Ngahina was further recognised for her achievements in the Arts by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand, with a New Generation Award. Her recent group exhibitions include Navigation Pacifica 2013 at the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre Sydney; Call of Taranaki at Puke Ariki, New Plymouth 2013; and Matatau at Bath Street Gallery, Auckland 2013. In August to October 2014, Ngahina was the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery National Artist in Residence, undertaking a 3 month art residency with the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery. For 2015 Ngahina will exhibit her new work as a key part of the GovettBrewster Art Gallery and Len Lye Centre’s high profile opening exhibition 'Our Hearts of Darkness.'