ARTISTS
Brett Graham: Wastelands
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o T膩maki is proud to exhibit Brett Graham鈥檚 monumental sculpture Wastelands, 2024 for the first time in Aotearoa New Zealand following its debut at the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024. With the generous support of the Patrons of the Auckland Art Gallery, the Gallery was able to acquire this significant work by one of Aotearoa New Zealand鈥檚 preeminent contemporary artists.
In this haunting installation, Graham (Ng膩ti Korok墨 Kahukura, Tainui) displays Wastelands with a new video work, Whangam膩rino, 2025, to powerfully express the enduring mamae (pain) caused by the loss of tribal lands. Over 1.2 million acres of Waikato-Tainui land were confiscated by the colonial government following the Waste Lands Act (1858), the Waikato War (1863鈥�64) and the New Zealand Settlements Act (1863), with devastating consequences for tangata whenua (people of the land) and te taio (the natural environment). In this exhibition, Graham powerfully addresses the resulting degradation of the Waikato River and its surrounding wetlands, a precious resource and taonga (treasure) for his iwi (tribe).
In 2014 the Crown acknowledged that its breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi had left Ng膩ti Korok墨 Kahukura 鈥榲irtually landless鈥�, and that the development of hydroelectric dams on the Waikato River had destroyed precious w膩hi tapu (sacred sites) and historic places, including burial caves. However, the legacies of the land raupatu (confiscations) remain, continuing to impact the wellbeing of the whenua (land) and tangata whenua.
Described by Graham as an 鈥榓nti-monument鈥�, Wastelands is powerfully symbolic of the enduring resilience and hope of a people across generations, determined to maintain their cultural health, wealth and ahi-k膩-roa 鈥� the long burning fires of continual occupation 鈥� beyond the impact of colonisation.
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Auckland Art Gallery Toi o T膩maki is proud to exhibit Brett Graham鈥檚 monumental sculpture Wastelands, 2024 for the first time in Aotearoa New Zealand following its debut at the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024. With the generous support of the Patrons of the Auckland Art Gallery, the Gallery was able to acquire this significant work by one of Aotearoa New Zealand鈥檚 preeminent contemporary artists.
In this haunting installation, Graham (Ng膩ti Korok墨 Kahukura, Tainui) displays Wastelands with a new video work, Whangam膩rino, 2025, to powerfully express the enduring mamae (pain) caused by the loss of tribal lands. Over 1.2 million acres of Waikato-Tainui land were confiscated by the colonial government following the Waste Lands Act (1858), the Waikato War (1863鈥�64) and the New Zealand Settlements Act (1863), with devastating consequences for tangata whenua (people of the land) and te taio (the natural environment). In this exhibition, Graham powerfully addresses the resulting degradation of the Waikato River and its surrounding wetlands, a precious resource and taonga (treasure) for his iwi (tribe).
In 2014 the Crown acknowledged that its breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi had left Ng膩ti Korok墨 Kahukura 鈥榲irtually landless鈥�, and that the development of hydroelectric dams on the Waikato River had destroyed precious w膩hi tapu (sacred sites) and historic places, including burial caves. However, the legacies of the land raupatu (confiscations) remain, continuing to impact the wellbeing of the whenua (land) and tangata whenua.
Described by Graham as an 鈥榓nti-monument鈥�, Wastelands is powerfully symbolic of the enduring resilience and hope of a people across generations, determined to maintain their cultural health, wealth and ahi-k膩-roa 鈥� the long burning fires of continual occupation 鈥� beyond the impact of colonisation.
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