{"id":145831,"date":"2025-04-30T11:28:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T09:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/?post_type=event-period&p=145831"},"modified":"2026-01-14T15:37:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T14:37:04","slug":"manatunga","status":"publish","type":"event-period","link":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/en\/programm\/laufzeitangebot\/exhibition\/manatunga-145831\/","title":{"rendered":"Manatunga"},"content":{"rendered":"
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George Tamihana Nuku is one of New Zealand’s leading contemporary artists. As a sculptor, he works with stone, bone, wood and shell, but above all with polystyrene and Plexiglass. From 18\u00a0May\u00a02025, the Eth-nological Museum will be presenting three large-scale interventions by the M\u0101ori artist in two rooms of the \u2018Oceania\u2019 exhibition area in the Humboldt Forum. These were created during two\u00a0fellowships<\/a>\u00a0that George Nuku completed in March\u00a02024 and from March\u00a0to May\u00a02025 as part of the\u00a0The Collaborative Museum<\/em>\u00a0initiative.<\/p>\n

George Nuku about the title of his exhibition:<\/p>\n

“Manatunga\u00a0is the M\u0101ori word given for precious objects, heirlooms and ancestral treasures. The word itself implies that they are standing – up-right. It is also used in the context that these special pieces are concen-trated repositories of histories and emotions.<\/em>“<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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Three Installations in the Oceania Section of the Ethnologisches Museum<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n\n
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The interventions created by George Nuku especially for the Oceania section of the Ethnologisches Museum’s (Ethnological Museum) permanent presentation in the Humboldt Forum will be shown in two rooms: a large-format installation in the large boat hall (room\u00a0215) will focus on the relationship between humans and the sea and the influences of climate change and environmental pollution. Two further interventions are presented in room\u00a0219, where exhibits from Polynesia and their relationships to ancestors and deities are on display.<\/p>\n

In all three installations, Nuku takes up the theme of the exhibition rooms and establishes a connection to the objects from the Ethnologisches Museum’s Oceania collection on display there. The contemporary artworks allow a new perspective on the historical objects, as Nuku explains:<\/p>\n

“The inter-relationships between the past and the future, between new and ancient artworks, between a descendant of the origin families and the museum stewards of these ancestral treasures – who now reside within the institution – are brought to the light of the present.<\/em>“<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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Plexiglas waka<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n\n
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In the large boat hall, Nuku places a\u00a0waka<\/em>\u00a0(New Zealand canoe) made of Plexiglass on the large coral reef display case, steered by 5 men: the M\u0101ori demigod M\u0101ui and his four brothers. M\u0101ui pulls plastic sea creatures out of the sea with a large fishing hook. George Nuku takes up the theme of the boat room, showing the power of\u00a0Te Mo-ananui<\/em>\u00a0– the \u2018big blue\u2019 – and the significance of the\u00a0waka<\/em>, which enabled humans to colonise this ocean in the first place. The five men made of Plexiglass hold historical paddles or bailer in their hands, the ends of the Plexiglass\u00a0waka<\/em>\u00a0are decorated with historical sterns from the collections of the Ethnologisches Museum.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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Gable of a M\u0101ori Meeting House and Ancestor Figures<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n\n
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George Nuku is showing two works in room\u00a0219: The gable of a M\u0101ori meeting house made of Plexiglass surrounds three ancestor or god figures made of wood or stone from Aotearoa \/ New Zealand, the Marquesas Islands and Rapanui, and vis-\u00e0-vis, a Plexiglass gable construction shields the wooden figure of the god Sope from Nukuoro.<\/p>\n

The second artwork shows four ancestor figures made of Plexiglass in the style of historical M\u0101ori carvings, surrounded by specially designed display cases, that carry or hold weapons and jewellery from the Ethnologisches Museum’s collections. The\u00a0manatunga<\/em>\u00a0(ancestral treasures) are not presented lying down, as in the other showcases in the exhibition, but standing up. They are shown as dynamic, living actors and confront visitors with their presence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

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