Chinese and Māori artists unite to remember Hokianga wreck

A multimedia exhibition featuring Māori and Chinese artists that explores the connections between the two cultures will be on display in Whangārei next month.

Titled Double Burial, the exhibition includes weaving, sculpture, audiovisuals and a waiata.

Inspired by a heritage trip to Hokianga in the lead-up to Waitangi Day last year, curator Jieying Cai wanted to retell the story of the sinking of the SS Ventnor and maintain the relationship with Māori.

"The exhibition is a shared history of Chinese and Māori in Hokianga about the SS Ventnor shipwreck," Cai said.

"I've curated a group of Chinese and Māori artists to explore their individual take on the story, both representing their community and their own stories and response to them."

In 1902, the SS Ventnor set out for China with the bones of 499 Chinese men who died in New Zealand for reburial in their home villages.

The cargo steamship hit a rock off the coast of Taranaki and eventually sank about 15km from the entrance to Hokianga Harbour.

Local iwi took care of remains that were washed ashore - an act of kindness that has long been appreciated by the Chinese community.

Last year, 46 young Chinese New Zealanders joined Pāruru, a four-day trip supported by the New Zealand Chinese Association to visit places of historical significance in relation to the shipwreck in Hokianga.

Cai, who participated in Pāruru, subsequently lived in Hokianga to create art in honour of the connections between Māori and Chinese, as well as people and land, in order to keep the story of the SS Ventnor alive.

Writer and journalist Eda Tang, who also joined Pāruru, created a waiata to express the sorrow of the families of Chinese men whose remains had been lost at sea.

"I really wanted to convey a sense of longing and sadness that families were apart, and they wanted to be reunited but never did," Tang said.

"It's just like reminding you that there's humanity in this story. There is a separation of families in the story. It's not just a story about bones and a ship. There are real life people in this."

Tang said a growing number of Chinese New Zealanders used the story of the SS Ventnor to understand what manaakitanga (kindness, respect, care) looked like between Chinese and tāngata whenua.

Understanding the position of tauiwi (non-Māori in New Zealand) had been top-of-mind for many in recent discussions spurred on by the Treaty Principles Bill, she said.

Māori artist and weaver Reva Mendes traces her heritage to Mitimiti, north of Hokianga Harbour.

Her ancestral iwi helped to bury the remains of the Chinese men that washed ashore following the SS Ventnor's sinking, a legacy that Mendes called "an honour".

Mendes, who worked with Cai on an artwork on display in the exhibition, described the event as a "great collaboration".

She hoped visitors to the exhibition could have a deeper understanding of history in today's world.

"The respect to each other's culture is important and that shows straight off the bat when you start building relationships," Mendes said.

"With the kōrero back and forth, how we can continue to relate and work together to strengthen everyone is really important, especially in today's world."

The exhibition is on display from 2-28 February at The Shutter Room Gallery in Whangārei to coincide with the Lunar New Year (29 January) and Waitangi Day.