Commissioned by Te Tuhi in association with Auckland Arts Festival Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Makaurau & New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa.

Destination Aroha is a testament to the power of love. Aroha for a beloved, for whānau, the community, humankind, our oceans, land and sky. Homegrown, international and universal symbols are pictured on Flatt’s flags; they also signify hope.

Through this kaupapa, Flatt champions aroha as Aotearoa’s greatest cultural possession. He is also conveying the idea that we are more than the sum of our race, sexuality, gender and heritage. Love is vital and helps us through controversies, changed realities and times of uncertainty like the COVID-19 pandemic. Love is love!

Destination Aroha was commissioned for the exhibition A Very Different World (AVDW) at Te Tuhi, Pakuranga. Four of the eight flags spell out the exhibit’s title. In the context of the New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa, the flags might be signalling a message of love to other ships.

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Russ Flatt

Destination Aroha, 2020

Destination Aroha with Ngahiraka Mason & Russ Flatt 

Thursday 25 February 10am - 12pm, drop-ins welcome 

Meet curator Ngahiraka Mason and artist Russ Flatt, with his newly commissioned project Destination Aroha.

Destination Aroha is an installation of eight flags presented in the plaza at New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa, commissioned for Te Tuhi’s major group exhibition A Very Different World.

Russ Flatt (Ngāti Kahungunu) makes staged photographs to create an environment to express and communicate an awareness of contemporary issues. Flatt’s careful and specific choice to work with models is a way to address identity and contemplate Aotearoa’s political realities, social constructs and ethnic diversity. The artist’s approach is situated in Victorian photography in the use of striking scenic backdrops, portraiture and photomontages and the examination of political themes. Flatt lives and works in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

Ngahiraka Mason (Tūhoe, Te Arawa, Ngāti Pango) is an independent curator, critic and visual historian with research and curatorial interests in the material culture and histories of Polynesian peoples and community relationships with museums and collections. Mason is the former Indigenous Curator, Māori Art at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. Recent projects include Wānanga|Wānana at Bishop Museum, Honolulu (2019); Honolulu Biennial: Middle of Now/Here (2017); and the international touring exhibition Gottfried Lindauer’s New Zealand (2014-16). Mason is a founding trustee of the Wairau Māori Art Gallery Charitable Trust, Whangārei. Mason lives and works in Honolulu, Hawai‘i.

Destination Aroha and A Very Different World are presented by Te Tuhi in association with Auckland Arts Festival Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki and the New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa.

Supporters and partners:
Te Tuhi
Auckland Arts Festival Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki
New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa
Auckland Art Fair