Neke Moa
YEAR OF RESIDENCY
September - December 2023
Neke Moa (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Ahuriri, Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) lives and works in Ōtaki, Aotearoa. Neke's practice centres on adornment and object-making, drawing heavily on materials found in Te Taiao (the environment). Moa taught shell craft in Fiji and Tonga between 2016 and 2020. She continues to teach and learn as part of her art practice, which centres mātauranga Māori, hauora, connectedness, and materiality.
Moa has exhibited widely, throughout New Zealand and internationally, participating in such projects as HANDSHAKE (2010–22), Wunderrūma (2014–16), and the 2016 Festival of Pacific Arts in Guam. She was selected to show at Schmuck 2015 in Munich. In 2018, she participated in Te Ao Hurihuri: Ever Changing World, a collaboration between the HANDSHAKE project (Aotearoa) and Dialogue Collective (United Kingdom) at the Crypt Gallery, London.
Three solo shows followed in short succession: Nō Te Moananui-a-Kiwa (2019) at the Dowse Art Museum, Te Awakairangi Lower Hutt; Māreikura – in conversation (2020) at Masterworks Gallery, Tāmaki Makaurau; and Rākau whakarawe – Weapons for the everyday (2021) at the Suter Art Gallery Te Aratoi o Whakatū, Nelson. Future exhibitions including Moa’s work are scheduled for Masterworks Gallery, Objectspace, and Season, Neke’s primary representative.
Image: Neke Moa, Whānau Mārama (installation view), 2022, Aotea, Commercial Bay, Tāmaki Makaurau