Our main building is closed until December for construction work. Exscite is still open every day! More
Skip to page content
Home / About us » News » Archives

Bite-sized history: Waikato Museum to host knitted yum cha feast

21 February 2023

A family feast lovingly made from knitted wool will be revealed when the exhibition Fortune by Bev Moon opens on Friday 24 February 2023 at Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga O Waikato.

“We are honoured to host Bev Moon’s carefully crafted tribute to her whaanau. As well as showcasing her artistic expertise, this installation tells one of many of the key stories of the early Chinese settlers of Aotearoa New Zealand,” said Liz Cotton, Director of Museum and Arts, Waikato Museum.

“This exhibition skilfully explores the obstacles and opportunities experienced by our migrant communities through the medium of craft and food, made with love.”

During Auckland’s lockdown in late 2021 Moon began knitting a yum cha banquet to mark what would have been her late mother Yip Sue Yen’s 90th birthday in March 2022 and to honour her grandmother Lee Choy Kee, whose skills of knitting and cooking were passed down the generations.

“While others perfected sourdough, binged on TV series, or went for walks in lockdown, I experimented and did my best to source just the right yarn shades, weights and textures online to create patterns for various wrappers and shapes. I folded and stuffed them the way Mum taught me when I helped make yum cha with her, all those years ago,” said artist Bev Moon.

“Slowly the number of dishes grew into a feast, and I realised it was an homage of sorts not only to my mother, but my grandmother as well.”

Born and raised in Wellington but now based in Auckland, Moon is descended from Taishanese men who first arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand in the 1880s in search of gold and new opportunities. Due to New Zealand’s discriminatory ‘poll tax’ immigration policy at the time, their wives had to remain in China. Moon’s mother and grandmother were two of only 500 Chinese women and children eventually granted temporary refuge by the New Zealand government to escape the Japanese invasion in World War II.

Moon’s professional life has been spent immersed in other people’s histories and stories.  As a Collections Manager and Touring Exhibitions Manager, she’s worked with the nation’s taonga and art at Auckland Museum Taamaki Paenga Hira, Te Papa Tongarewa, The Dowse Art Museum, City Gallery Wellington and Adam Art Gallery.

On tour with the assistance of the Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust, Fortune is on display at Waikato Museum from 24 February to 2 July 2023 and entry is free. For upcoming events and koorero toi (gallery talks), please visit www.waikatomuseum.co.nz/events 

Please note:

For te reo Maaori, Waikato Museum uses double vowels (uu) in place of vowels with a macron (ū) to represent a long vowel sound. This spelling approach is the preference of tangata whenua in Hamilton Kirikiriroa and Waikato iwi for te reo Maaori words. Artists’ titles are shown in their original form.

Image credit: Bev Moon, Fortune, 2021-22. Photographed by Richard Ng

 

------ SIMPLIFIED CHINESE TRANSLATION ------

Bite-sized history: Waikato Museum to host knitted yum cha feast

“一口即食”的历史:怀卡托博物馆(Waikato Museum)将举办手工针织而成的广式饮茶盛宴

        一场由Bev Moon创作的名为《吉祥如意》(Fortune)的手工羊毛针织而成的家庭盛宴作品将于2023年2月24日周五在怀卡托博物馆(Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga O Waikato)进行公开展览。

        “我们很荣幸为 Bev Moon举办其为 whaanau (毛利语“家庭”之意)精心制作的致敬作品展。除了展示其艺术专长外,此展还讲述了Aotearoa New Zealand新西兰早期华人移民的诸多重要故事之一,”怀卡托博物馆艺术博物馆馆长Liz Cotton 说道。

        “此展览以手工艺和食物为媒介,经过精心创作而成,该艺术作品巧妙地展示出了我们移民群体经历的重重阻碍和遇到的发展机遇。”

            在 2021 年底奥克兰(Auckland)疫情封城期间,Moon 开始创作手工针织广式饮茶(yum cha)盛宴作品,以纪念其已故母亲Yip Sue Yen于 2022 年 3 月的九十岁大寿,同时也表达对其祖母Lee Choy Kee李彩贵的敬意,她们将手工编织和下厨烹饪的技能代代相传。

        “当大家正忙于烘焙、看电视剧或在疫情封城期间散步时,我尝试尽最大努力在网上寻找 色彩色度、重量和材质适合的毛线,为各种样式和形状创造图案。“我按照多年前帮助母亲制作广式饮茶时的方式,把东西折叠并塞进去,”艺术家 Bev Moon 说道。

        “慢慢地,随着菜肴数量的增加,作品逐渐拼凑成了一席盛宴。我意识到这不仅仅是对我母亲的致敬,也同时表达了我对祖母的无比敬意。

            Moon在惠灵顿(Wellington)出生长大,现居奥克兰(Auckland),她是广东台山人(Taishanese)的后裔,其祖辈19世纪80年代来到新西兰寻找黄金并探寻发展新机遇。 由于当时新西兰具有歧视性的“人头税”(“poll tax”)移民政策,其祖辈的妻子们不得不留在中国。Moon的母亲和祖母是在二战(World War II)中抗日战争期间新西兰政府批准临时避难的仅有的五百名中国妇女和儿童中的两名。

          Moon的职业生涯一直沉浸在他人的历史和故事中。作为一名收藏经理兼巡展经理,她曾在奥克兰博物馆(Auckland Museum Taamaki Paenga Hira)、新西兰国立博物馆(Te Papa Tongarewa National)、道斯艺术博物馆(The Dowse Art Museum)、惠灵顿城市画廊(City Gallery Wellington)和亚当艺术画廊(Adam Art Gallery)等地从事与毛利汤加(taonga)和艺术相关的工作。

        在华人人头税遗产信托基金会(Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust)的协助下,作品《吉祥如意》(Fortune)将于 2023 年 2 月 24 日至 7 月 2 日在怀卡托博物馆(Waikato Museum)进行公开免费展出。 有关即将举行的活动和 koorero toi(gallery talks画廊讲座),请访问 www.waikatomuseum.co.nz/events

     

注:关于毛利语( te reo Maaori)的使用,怀卡托博物馆(Waikato Museum)使用双元音(uu)代替带有长音符(ū)的元音来表示长元音。 这种拼写方式是 Hamilton Kirikiriroa 和怀卡托毛利部落(Waikato iwi)中 tangata whenua 对毛利语(te reo Maaori )用词的偏好。 所有艺术家的头衔均以其原格式呈现。

------ END ------

Translated by Chinese Translator Leo Li

 

------ TRADITIONAL CHINESE TRANSLATION ------

Bite-sized history: Waikato Museum to host knitted yum cha feast

“一口即食”的歷史:懷卡托博物館(Waikato Museum)將舉辦手工針織而成的廣式飲茶盛宴

        一場由Bev Moon創作的名為《吉祥如意》(Fortune)的手工羊毛針織而成的家庭盛宴作品將於2023224日週五在懷卡托博物館(Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga O Waikato)進行公開展覽。

        “我們很榮幸為 Bev Moon舉辦其為 whaanau (毛利語“家庭”之意)精心製作的致敬作品展。除了展示其藝術專長外,此展還講述了Aotearoa New Zealand新西蘭早期華人移民的諸多重要故事之一,”懷卡托博物館藝術博物館館長Liz Cotton 說道。

        “此展覽以手工藝和食物為媒介,經過精心創作而成,該藝術作品巧妙地展示出了我們移民群體經歷的重重阻礙和遇到的發展機遇。”

            在 2021 年底奧克蘭(Auckland)疫情封城期間,Moon 開始創作手工針織廣式飲茶(yum cha)盛宴作品,以紀念其已故母親Yip Sue Yen於 2022 年 3 月的九十歲大壽,同時也表達對其祖母Lee Choy Kee李彩貴的敬意,她們將手工編織和下廚烹飪的技能代代相傳。

        “當大家正忙於烘焙、看電視劇或在疫情封城期間散步時,我嘗試盡最大努力在網上尋找 色彩色度、重量和材質適合的毛線,為各種樣式和形狀創造圖案。“我按照多年前幫助母親製作廣式飲茶時的方式,把東西折疊並塞進去,”藝術家 Bev Moon 說道。

        “慢慢地,隨著菜餚數量的增加,作品逐漸拼湊成了一席盛宴。我意識到這不僅僅是對我母親的致敬,也同時表達了我對祖母的無比敬意。”

            Moon在惠靈頓(Wellington)出生長大,現居奧克蘭(Auckland),她是廣東台山人(Taishanese)的後裔,其祖輩於19世紀80年代來到新西蘭尋找黃金並探尋發展新機遇。由於當時新西蘭具有歧視性的“人頭稅”(“poll tax”)移民政策,其祖輩的妻子們不得不留在中國。Moon的母親和祖母是在二戰(World War II)中抗日戰爭期間新西蘭政府批准臨時避難的僅有的五百名中國婦女和兒童中的兩名。

        Moon的職業生涯一直沉浸在他人的歷史和故事中。作為一名收藏經理兼巡展經理,她曾在奧克蘭博物館(Auckland Museum Taamaki Paenga Hira)、新西蘭國立博物館(Te Papa Tongarewa National)、道斯藝術博物館(The Dowse Art Museum)、惠靈頓城市畫廊(City Gallery Wellington)和亞當藝術畫廊(Adam Art Gallery)等地從事與毛利湯加(taonga)和藝術相關的工作。

        在華人人頭稅遺產信託基金會(Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust)的協助下,作品《吉祥如意》(Fortune)將於 2023 年 2 月 24 日至 7 月 2 日在懷卡托博物館(Waikato Museum)進行公開免費展出。有關即將舉行的活動和 koorero toi(gallery talks畫廊講座),請訪問 www.waikatomuseum.co.nz/events

 

注:關於毛利語( te reo Maaori)的使用,懷卡托博物館(Waikato Museum)使用雙元音(uu)代替帶有長音符(ū)的元音來表示長元音。這種拼寫方式是 Hamilton Kirikiriroa 和懷卡托毛利部落(Waikato iwi)中 tangata whenua 對毛利語(te reo Maaori )用詞的偏好。所有藝術家的頭銜均以其原格式呈現。

------ END LINE ------

Translated by Chinese Translator Leo Li