Mata Aho

Mana Wāhine in Contemporary Art

Abstract

Mata Aho is a contemporary Māori women’s art collective. Its four members, artists Erena Baker (Te Atiawa ki Whakarongotai, Ngāti Toa Rangātira), Sarah Hudson (Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe), Bridget Reweti (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi), and Terri Te Tau (Rangitāne ki Wairarapa), work together on large, often textile-based, installations linked to mana wāhine—the ‘empowerment and integrity of Māori women’ as they put it in this interview. Tim Corballis asks them about their approach to collective work, and how their artistic collectivity relates to political forms of collectivity.