On Sunday, many gathered in the auditorium of Te Puna o Waiwhetū for Sight Lines: Women and Art in Aotearoa, a panel discussion chaired by Dr Barb Garrie, with Hanahiva Rose (Kāi Tahu, Te Atiawa, Ngāti Toa), Chloe Cull (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāi Te Ruahikihiki), and Kirsty Baker. In this beautifully produced book, editor and writer Kirsty Baker weaves a path through the history of art in Aotearoa with essays by Chloe Cull, Ngarino Ellis, Ioana Gordon-Smith, Rangimarie Sophie Jolley, Lana Lopesi, Hanahiva Rose, Huhana Smith and Megan Tamati-Quennell. The book also features 150 images of the works of the 35 artists, which were displayed in a rolling slideshow behind the speakers.
Panel chair Barb Garrie opened the conversation by asking Kirsty about how she found her way to the Sight Lines project, and how, as someone hailing from Scotland, she situated herself in telling these stories. Baker described it as a journey of over ten years, involving postgraduate study and exhaustive reading of existing art histories of Aotearoa. Also of importance was learning from those she studied alongside, friends who challenged her, and a process of unlearning the way she had learnt to "do" art history in the UK. She talked of how in Te Ao Māori people are first, always, and how to tell a history of art in Aotearoa that is people first. The book reflects these processes of thinking and learning - it is organised, shaped and contributed to by the artists and writers.
Barb Garrie went on to ask the panel about the collaborative process that went into the creation of the book. Chloe Cull described attending a wānanga where all the writers could bring their whakaaro around who and what they wanted to write about, and mentioned the diversity of contributions. Hanahiva Rose talked about how the openness of the project could feel overwhelming at times, and about how she really wanted to write about the artists of her generation, and their place in art history.
Discussion then turned to how decisions were made as to which artists to include in the history. Kirsty Baker talked about a skew towards the contemporary as reflective of her research interests, about selection rather than exclusion, and engaging with socio political histories. Hanahiva Rose spoke of how choosing to write about artists whose practices reflect deep research, informed by existing images and other archives, means stretching into other histories - into spiral, collapsing time as seen in Te Ao Māori.
Garrie then asked about the necessity of a book that focuses on women artists. Baker spoke of the fraught quality of women as a term, the problematic aspects of feminism as it unfolded, and of the importance of knowing that there isn't a monolithic understanding of what a woman is. She talked about how a challenge is to relinquish the idea of unity - that solidarity is more useful - rather than something that tries to diminish or wash out difference. In her interviews with Elizabeth Ellis and Mere Harrison Lodge, Chloe found her ideas around what it might've been like to be a young Māori woman in the art world in 1970s Auckland challenged.
The discussion closed with talk of the relationships that have flourished between writers and artists as a result of the project, including working in a curatorial capacity with some of the artists. The enormous labour that goes into making a book of this kind - a beautiful object! - was mentioned, with acknowledgment of collaborators like Katie Kerr who did the design work. Last words included Hanahiva Rose talking about a desire for expansion and construction, and listening for silences, in telling these stories. It was a thought provoking, profound note to end an insightful and stimulating hour.
Sight Lines: Women and Art in Aotearoa is available in our library collections, a beautiful, landmark, important book.
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