Te Tiriti - The Treaty, a bicultural conversation

Kings Theatre, 80 Gillies St, Kawakawa, Aotearoa | New Zealand
30 Jan - 6 April 2015

artists:
Piripi Ball | Regan Balzer | Gabrielle Belz | Dawson Clutterbuck | Alicia Courtney | Richard Darbyshire | Davina Duke | Dulcie Draper | Sheree Edwards | Lester Hall | Rhonda Halliday | Shane Hansen | Bevis Hatch | Sarah Hikuroa | Mango (Sharkey) Hoera | Tinika Hohaia | Leanne Jackson | Simon Kerr | David Knight | Thomas Lauterbach | Kim Logue | Jo Lumkong | Scott McFarlane | Keri Molloy | Leonard Foley Murupaenga | Will Ngakuru | Theresa Reihana | Emere Te Paea Robson | Carla Ruka | Sash | Deb Sheppard | Sonja van Kerkhoff | Dorothy Waetford | Bev Wilson | Colleen Waata Urlich | Karena Way



   Photo print on aluminium by Sonja van Kerkhoff, 2015
Two prints of the work, "Josephine's Mother" flank
the work "A 21st Century Feminist" by Sonja van Kerkhoff

Artist Statement


"Josephine's Mother" + "A 21st Century Feminist" are about looking at things bi-culturally.

The pose and composition of "Josephine's Mother" is similar to the 1871 painting "Whistler's Mother." In this case, Josephine is the child the young woman is carrying. The mother looks alert and details such as a watch and the wall plug indicate that hers is a contemporary world, although she wears traditional Dutch clothing.

In the Netherlands today, such clothing is seen as a sign of conservatism because it is the daily attire of a few conservative religious villages. Josephine's mother told me that while she was in Aotearoa | New Zealand she noticed that people were more curious and more willing to approach her than in the Netherlands, where the clothing is a barrier. So "Josephine's Mother" is a contemporary portrait of a young woman, whose outer appearance is read in two strongly contrasting ways in Aotearoa | New Zealand, and in the Netherlands.

The titles point to a feminist perspective being like an alternate cultural perspective.