(4 bc potters

POTTERS
GUILD

of BRITISH

COLUMBIA
a
NEWSLETTER

February 2006

Volume 42 No. 2

Manawa Brings Maori Potters to Vancouver

The Spirit Wrestler Gallery in Gastown will be presenting a number of prominent Maori potters as a part
of their cultural fusion exhibition "Manawa" to be presented in February (starting February 10 and run-
ning ‘til March 11, 2006 at the Spirit Wrestler Gallery's new location at 47 Water Street). The Maori from
New Zealand are making the journey to Vancouver to represent their culture and exhibit their art together

Manos Nathan

Colleen Waata Urlich

with the leading Northwest Coast artists.

This exhibition includes 15 Northwest Coast artists and more than 18 Maori artists.
A unique facet of the show will be the exchange of artistic ideas, culture and tech-
niques between the Maori artists and the Northwest Coast artists.

Among the 30+ artists represented in this exhibition will be 4 Maori potters; Manos
Nathan and Colleen Waata Urlich have confirmed that they will be present for the
exhibition. Wi Te Tau Pirika Taepa, and Baye Riddell may also be able to come.

Manos Nathan (1948- )

Since the mid-1980s, Manos has been at the forefront of the Maori ceramic move-
ment. He is co-founder of Nga Kaihanga Uku, the national Maori clayworkers’ organ-
ization, although his background is in woodcarving and sculpture. (He carved the
meeting house at Matatina Marae, Waipoua Forest, on his tribal lands.) His clay works
draw on customary art forms and on the Maori cosmological and creation narratives.
In 1989, he travelled to the United States on a Fulbright grant to visit Native
American potters. A reciprocal visit took place in 1991. His work is held in the collec-
tions of the British Museum; the National Museum of Scotland; the Museum fur
Volkerkunder, Berlin, and Te Papa Tongarewa/Museum of New Zealand.

Colleen Waata Urlich (1939- )

Largely self-taught, Colleen developed her interest in pottery while completing an art
major at Auckland Teachers College. She continued to experiment during the 1970s,
encouraged by Alec Musha, one of the first Maori potters. She believes strongly in tra-
dition, decorating with traditional Maori weaving patterns or by adding muka (flax
fibre), feathers or shell to her works. For her, "working with clay means working with
the body of Mother Earth, she who influences and sustains us physically and spiritu-
ally." Colleen has long served the community, national art committees and Nga
Kaihanga Uku, the national collective of Maori clayworkers. In 2002, she completed
her Master of Fine Arts degree with honours in sculpture at Elam, University of
Auckland. Her dissertation on the ancient Lapita ceramic legacy to the Pacific con-
tributed to a published paper. Her work has been exhibited throughout New Zealand.

Photos courtesy Spirit Wrestler Gallery
Biographical information courtesy Spirit Wrestler Gallery
Continued on page 6.