Haerenga by noa hāmana (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kura, Ngāti Toa) explores Māori migration and its continuation in the 21st century. Waves of dispersal across Moana-nui-a-Kiwa brought interludes of radical cultural adaptation, generating ancestral stories that hold mana and connect tangata Māori to whakapapa. Migration holds a paradox of possibility and loss, raising questions of choice, push, and pull—echoed today in movement from Aotearoa to Australia. Rooted in colonial economic histories, these cross-colony pathways have long carried the weight of displacement. Haerenga returns to submerged dreams and forgotten stories, revealing culture as fluid, interconnected, and continually redefined.
Curated by Giulia Pianelli (curatorial essay)
noa hāmana, Arctic Hysteria, 2025. Acrylic on canvas, 900 x 900mm. Courtesy of the artist.
noa hāmana, Te Maroro Kokoti Ihu Waka Taua, 2026. Acrylic on canvas, 900 x 900mm. Courtesy of the artist.
Public Programme
Opening Event: Wednesday 24 June, 5–7pm
About the artist
noa hāmana (Ngāti Kura, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Toa, Ingarangi) is an Ōtautahi-born artist based in Naarm Melbourne. His art is an interrogation of the past, peeling back its layers where history and nightmares are indistinguishable. Through a cartoonish style inspired by fantasy and horror, his practice digs into personal and cultural memory to reveal a mythology which reflects the experience of being positioned between worlds. His work invites the observer to partake in the interrogation, to sit with tension and uncertainty, but to also provoke curiosity towards the unknown. Recent solo exhibitions include Te Koha at Blakdot Gallery, Naarm Melbourne (2025) and Storms Began as Breezes at Sonics Gallery, Naarm Melbourne (2024). noa has also exhibited in several group and solo shows at Te Whare o Rei in Ōtautahi and is a member of the Rei Collective. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Anthropology from Massey University. Of his practice, noa says: “In blurring the lines between time and place I make the past readable again. Taking the direction of kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua – I walk backwards into the future, with my eyes fixed on the past. It’s an act of picking up what’s been left behind, piecing fragments of a broken vessel back together, to show that every story has already been told before.”
Press
Exhibition close-up videos shared by Current Art Magazine (Instagram reel; TikTok video) • Aotearoa New Zealand
noa hāmana’s essay Haerenga: Our Ancestors Give Us the Horizon published on Blue Art Journal • Australia
Exhibition promoted as part of Auckland Council’s Matariki Festival 2026
