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Wā We Can't Afford: Heidi Brickell

201 Eastbourne St East, Hastings

'Wā We Can’t Afford' has grown from Heidi Brickell’s time as Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga Hastings Art Gallery’s inaugural visiting artist, spending six weeks in residence during late 2024.

Across her practice Brickell explores how we navigate the world in relation to mātauranga Māori and the human knowledge and wisdom held in relation to our natural environment. In 'Wā We Can’t Afford', she continues to meld experimental and customary forms, techniques, and materials—from whakairo and kōwhaiwhai to installation, sculpture, and painting. Her installation responds to the unique geometry of the gallery’s architecture, and the significance of the climate and bodies of water in orienting herself in Te Matau-a-Māui Hawke’s Bay.

Brickell has worked with paewai (driftwood) and rimurapa (native bull kelp) found along the shores of Ōtaki and Te Raekaihau. These buoyant, resilient materials play crucial roles in the life cycles of both land and sea, embodying turbulence and vulnerability at the thresholds between whenua and moana, Tāne and Tangaroa. Rimurapa, traditionally used for preserving food and known for its ability to anchor in rough waters, faces threats from warming seas. Driftwood, while helping to slow coastal erosion and providing habitats, also accumulates in excess due to forestry slash and serves as a constant reminder of Cyclone Gabrielle’s impact on the shores of Te Matau-a-Māui and the East Coast.

Alongside these materials is an “exploded painting” on pieces of mounted canvas placed around the gallery, based on pūrākau (ancient stories), rivers and tributaries. Brightly coloured thread has been wound around flexible wire, and moulded into tendril-like forms that reach out to grasp at different elements, grappling with binding them together. In the precarious economic and environmental conditions of the present, the artist’s choice of title (wā referring to “time” with implications of connection, collaboration, and imagination) invokes the urgency of attending to our most fundamental and sustaining relationships.

Heidi Brickell (Te Hika o Pāpāuma, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Tāmaki-nui-ā-Rua, Rongomaiwahine, Rangitāne, Ngāi Tara, Ngāti Apakura, Airihi, Kōtimana, Ingarihi, Tiamana) is based in Ōtaki with a background in Kura Kaupapa Māori education and te reo Māori revitalisation. Her work has recently featured in major surveys of national contemporary art in public galleries and is regularly exhibited at Laree Payne Gallery. From 2022-23 her solo exhibition PAKANGA FOR THE LOSTGIRL was toured from Te Wai Ngutu Kākā Gallery in Tāmaki Mākaurau Auckland to Ōtautahi Christchurch and Pōneke Wellington.

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When

Sat 22nd Feb 2025, 10:00am

Tue 25th Feb 2025, 10:00am

Wed 26th Feb 2025, 10:00am

Thu 27th Feb 2025, 10:00am

Fri 28th Feb 2025, 10:00am

Sat 1st Mar 2025, 10:00am

Tue 4th Mar 2025, 10:00am

Wed 5th Mar 2025, 10:00am

Thu 6th Mar 2025, 10:00am

Fri 7th Mar 2025, 10:00am

Sat 8th Mar 2025, 10:00am

Tue 11th Mar 2025, 10:00am

Wed 12th Mar 2025, 10:00am

Thu 13th Mar 2025, 10:00am

Fri 14th Mar 2025, 10:00am

Sat 15th Mar 2025, 10:00am

Tue 18th Mar 2025, 10:00am

Wed 19th Mar 2025, 10:00am

Thu 20th Mar 2025, 10:00am

Fri 21st Mar 2025, 10:00am

Sat 22nd Mar 2025, 10:00am

Tue 25th Mar 2025, 10:00am

Wed 26th Mar 2025, 10:00am

Thu 27th Mar 2025, 10:00am

Fri 28th Mar 2025, 10:00am

Sat 29th Mar 2025, 10:00am

Tue 1st Apr 2025, 10:00am

Wed 2nd Apr 2025, 10:00am

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Fri 4th Apr 2025, 10:00am

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Thu 10th Apr 2025, 10:00am

Fri 11th Apr 2025, 10:00am

Sat 12th Apr 2025, 10:00am

Tue 15th Apr 2025, 10:00am

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Fri 18th Apr 2025, 10:00am

Sat 19th Apr 2025, 10:00am

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Thu 24th Apr 2025, 10:00am

Fri 25th Apr 2025, 10:00am

Sat 26th Apr 2025, 10:00am

Tue 29th Apr 2025, 10:00am

Wed 30th Apr 2025, 10:00am

Thu 1st May 2025, 10:00am

Fri 2nd May 2025, 10:00am

Sat 3rd May 2025, 10:00am

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Sat 10th May 2025, 10:00am

Tue 13th May 2025, 10:00am

Wed 14th May 2025, 10:00am

Thu 15th May 2025, 10:00am

Fri 16th May 2025, 10:00am

Sat 17th May 2025, 10:00am

Where

Hastings Art Gallery, Hastings, Hawke's Bay / Gisborne

201 Eastbourne St East, Hastings

Wā We Can't Afford: Heidi Brickell 'Wā We Can’t Afford' has grown from Heidi Brickell’s time as Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga Hastings Art Gallery’s inaugural visiting artist, spending six weeks in residence during late 2024.