Paemanu: Kārakaraka Toi coming to Forrester Gallery

Published on 07 April 2026

Echoing the waterways of Te Waipounamu, this collaborative exhibition by Paemanu: Ngāi Tahu Contemporary Visual Arts emerged from a journey along te awa Waitaki.

First shown under the name Paemanu: Awa Toi at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art in Meanjin Brisbane at the 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, it returns home.

It began with a river. In 2023, 38 artists embarked on a four-day journey. They followed an ancient travel route along the Waitaki, a river that has been the lifeblood of their ancestors for generations, culminating at the base of their chiefly mauka Aoraki. From ocean to mountain, out of this shared experience emerged four creative aho (strands), Karaka, Ana Whakairo, Tīrewa and Hīkoi, collaboratively developed and presented under the identity of Paemanu. This approach, rooted in whanaukataka (kinship), manaakitaka (care), and kaitiakitaka (guardianship), is fundamental to the Paemanu rōpū.

“The hīkoi was the breath we took in, that gave us the strength to travel offshore and to start to express who we are. That strength comes from this river, this whenua, these ancestors and the haukainga.” Ross Hemera, Pou Tokomanawa, Paemanu: Ngāi Tahu Contemporary Visual Arts

Returning to Te Waipounamu under the name Kārakaraka Toi, which speaks to the action of calling or echoing, this second iteration of the exhibition is a returning call to honour and reconnect with its source.

These artworks echo the journey from Waitaki to Aoraki, which prepared Paemanu to take flight and land on the banks of the Maiwar (Brisbane River). It returns now to Ōamaru, calling to the nearby Waitaki, and to the many places the group have visited and whakapapa from.

“We wish to acknowledge the manaakitaka shown towards us from the Turrbal and Yaggera peoples, the original custodians of Meanjin and Kurilpa, as we prepared this exhibition and arrived on Country. We deeply value the care and support shown to us as we undertook our first large scale project outside our takiwā, and the cultural exchanges that manifested as part of this exhibition. We also mihi to our home people for sustaining the fires of occupation, and welcoming this exhibition home” - Martin Awa Clarke Langdon, Co-Chair Paemanu: Ngāi Tahu Contemporary Visual Arts

Paemanu: Kārakaraka Toi features collaboratively made work from over 40 Ngāi Tahu artists.

This exhibition is an important opportunity to recognise and uplift Ngāi Tahu arts, while celebrating the international success of Paemanu. We are honoured to be hosting Paemanu: Kārakaraka Toi and sharing it with our community.

Paemanu: Kārakaraka Toi coincides with the opening of the Forrester Gallery’s new extension. Our upcoming exhibitions seek to celebrate and honour the vibrant cultures present in te rohe o Waitaki, while complementing the Gallery’s architecture, old and new. The connections of the past and present, guide us towards an exciting future as new exhibition spaces are established and existing ones are adapted.

Paemanu: Kārakaraka Toi runs from April 20th – August 16th 2026 at the Forrester Gallery, Ōamaru

ENDS

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