Monumental: The Sensitive Lens of Laurence Aberhart

9 March - 29 April 2018

Free entry

From Waikato River’s source at Lake Taupoo-nui-a-Tia to where it meets the ocean at Tuakau, Laurence Aberhart takes us with him on a five-year journey (1990 – 1995) with the taniwha. It almost seems they have guided him at every bend of the river.

What makes this body of photographs so significant and beautiful are the voices of history, both Maaori and Paakehaa. With each image, Aberhart acknowledges each of these places has spiritual significance to the iwi/tribe(s): Tainui and Tuuwharetoa. His photographs are monuments for us to remember the unspoken lives of these tribes and the colonial settlers who have added different kinds of structures along the riverside. Aberhart acknowledges those who fell in battle, not only for King and country, but for Kiingitanga and whenua/land.

Education programmes are available for this exhibition.

Image: The Point #2, Ngaaruawaahia, 17 February 1994, Laurence Aberhart, collection of Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato.