Johnson Witehira floortalk

Event / 08 October 2016

11am

Join designer Johnson Witehira at Objectspace for an introduction to his solo exhibition Half-Blood, an exhibition that challenges the history and myths associated with both Māori and Pakeha identity through two playable digital artworks.

Johnson Witehira is a designer and artist of Ngā Puhi (Ngai-tā-te-auru), Tamahaki (Ngāti Hinekura), and Pakeha descent. He graduated from the Whanganui School of Design in 2007, going on to complete his Masters in 2007. His interest in Māori visual art led then him to Massey University where he completed a doctorate (2013) that explored both the aesthetics and tikanga in customary Māori art. As an artist Witehira’s work often explores identity and the space between cultures. He has worked on a diverse range of creative projects, from solo and group exhibitions, to public art including murals, light-box works and projected light installations. In 2012 Witehira’s work was exhibited in Times Square, New York in the first ever syncronised display of digital content. In his Land of Tara (2014, Wellington) series Witehira worked created a series of graphic representations of the capital city's ancestors including Kupe, Whatonga, and his sons Tautoki and Tara. More recently Witehira was invited to show his work at the prestigious Talente Munich in Germany (2015).