Te Tuhi is delighted to present Paerangi: Venice, a project bringing together four Māori artists for a series of art activations at Crea, a contemporary art association based in the Venetian island of Giudecca.
Māori artists John Turi-Tiakitai, Kereama Taepa, Neke Moa and Suzanne Tamaki will gather in Venice, Italy, for two weeks in April and May to collaborate and create.
Their work will build toward a series of site-responsive activations presented during the 61st Venice Biennale Vernissage and opening weekend, May 5-10.
Paerangi: Venice is a collaboration between independent charitable trust Te Tuhi and contemporary art association Crea Cantieri del Contemporaneo on Venice’s Giudecca Island. The group of artists will work together and individually, exploring a variety of mediums.
The project grows out of Paerangi: Waipawa (2024), which took place in the small rural town of Waipawa in Central Hawke’s Bay. It continues a journey of artistic collaboration, cultural exchange and community engagement on an international scale.
2025. Courtesy of the artist and Jhana Millers. Photo by Emily Hartley-Skudder.
A space for cultural exchange and community engagement
Curator Karl Chitham says Paerangi refers to the seat of Ranginui or the horizon, a place of unlimited potential and change.
All the artists are visiting Venice and the Biennale for the first time. Paerangi: Venice opens up new possibilities, including the chance to exhibit work at one of the world’s largest and most high-profile art events.
The project also offers space for cultural exchange and community engagement, allowing the artists to build on their own research while learning from and engaging with this new environment.
Each artist will reflect on their practice, inviting audiences to experience the richness of contemporary Māori art through weaving, performance, costume, adornment, oral histories, sculpture and augmented reality.
and Season Aotearoa.
Building on the success of Mataaho Collective and other Māori artists at the previous Venice Biennale, 2026 offers a great opportunity to strengthen connections with the global art scene while remaining authentically Aotearoa, says Te Tuhi.
