Fane Flaws’ work honoured in exhibition

Fane Flaws. Photo courtesy of Flaws Family

Making a Mark: The Work of Fane Flaws.

MTG HAWKE’S BAY, 11 MARCH – 10 SEPTEMBER 2023

Iconic artist Fane Flaws died in 2021, leaving a legacy of prodigious artistic output and a bevy of bereft fans.

Flaws’ work will be honoured through an exhibition, Making a Mark: The Work of Fane Flaws, opening on 11 March at MTG Hawkes Bay, Tai Ahuriri.

The show focuses on performance and design aspects of Flaws’ work while many people in Hawke’s Bay know him as a painter.

The exhibition is about Fane’s life as a director, musician and designer as it was in these areas that he invented and innovated. It was also here that Fane made a mark, wrote himself into Aotearoa’s history books and was celebrated with countless awards and acknowledgements.

Flaws was a nationally recognised creative who grew up in Wellington but made a connection to the infamous BLERTA (Bruno Lawrence’s Electric Revelation and Travelling Apparition) crew based in Waimārama.  It was also here in Hawke’s Bay that Flaws spent the last years of his life.

“There’s a huge community of family, friends and fans of Fane’s here in Hawke’s Bay who will say that he made this place his, that he was truly at home here and so for that reason, we can rightly say that he was one of ours.”

Flaws’ experience with the touring musical, theatrical troupe BLERTA was a major influence on his life. Bluffing his way onto the bus with a magic act for kids and armed with Fender guitar (which he was barely able to tune) and a couple of songs he had written, Flaws spent the next five years with BLERTA, becoming their most prolific songwriter.

Fired from BLERTA in 1975, Fane settled down to regroup and it wasn’t long before he was involved musically again, moving to Wellington he started up the band Hot Club de Chez Paree the first of many musical collaborations.

Fane’s eclectic taste in music played out in his career which spanned theatrical revue type shows of BLERTA and SPATS, classic pop of the CROCODILES, the bizarre jazz-pop of I AM JOE’S MUSIC and the funk of NO ENGINE and THE BEND.

Over the next forty years Fane continued to produce music, making his living as a book illustrator, album designer, music video and television commercial director and painter, each medium a rich source of visual inspiration for his wider body of work.

What emerged over his career was an intersection of characters, stories and ideas.  A non-conforming, wildly eccentric world fuelled by imagination and nonsense. MTG’s Making a Mark retrospective will pay homage to that genius and show just some of his tremendous output.

The show celebrates Flaws’ absolute commitment to creativity that lifts us out of the humdrum and recognises that whatever he was making, be it television commercials, kids’ books or music videos – his work radiated a spirit that was much bigger than any of it.”

Making a Mark: The work of Fane Flaws has been prepared with support of the Flaws family and opens 11 March 2023. The exhibition runs through until 10 September 2023.

Published in the Hawke’s Bay Today newspaper 28 January 2023 and written by Toni MacKinnon, Curator Fine Arts at MTG Hawke’s Bay.

Divers gather strange objects from sunken ship

Copper pipe with wood remnants from the Montmorency.

In the Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust collection there is a strange assortment of objects belonging to the ship Montmorency. Included are earthenware ink bottles, a fork, four spoons, fragments of porthole glass, a broken wine bottle top with cork intact, brass door locks, pins, nails and tacks along with copper pipes still with remnants of wood attached. These items were found by divers in the sea off Harding Road, where the wreck of the Montmorency had lain for well over a century.

Built in Quebec in 1855 and registered in Liverpool, the Montmorency weighed in at 668 tons. The ship was remarkably roomy between decks, which made it a favourite for the transportation of immigrants, so much so, that by March 1867 it had carried more passengers between England and Aotearoa than any other vessel. 

On its last ill-fated journey, the Montmorency left Gravesend, London on 11 December 1866 sailing direct for Ahuriri. On board were 33 crew, ably captained by Josiah McKenzie, along with 205 passengers most of whom were immigrants bound for Te Matau-a-Māui. Amongst the group were paying passengers, eight of whom were travelling first class, while the second class passengers were one family and a single woman.

The remainder of the immigrants were consigned to steerage. They had been selected ‘with great care’ by the Misses Rye and Levin who, five years previously had visited Australia and New Zealand to find out where servants, especially female servants, were most required. In consultation with the Hawke’s Bay Provincial Government a select group of immigrants were commissioned in order to provide relief to an improvised labour market.

Amongst the steerage passengers were 30 families (with 70 children), 46 single women and 22 single men. The immigrants were reputedly ‘persons of good character’. The attributes of the single women, many of whom had lost their parents, were described as being ‘virtuous, industrious and respectable’. Within the bounds of steerage, Rye and Levin, the ‘two kindly ladies’, kept a strict eye on segregation – the single women were berthed towards the stern, the married couples and children in the middle, and the single men toward the bow of the ship.

Stacked in the holds was nearly 400 tons of cargo, commissioned by the Napier firms of Stuart and Co., Watt Brothers and Newton Irvine and Co. The goods principally consisted of salt, oil, tar, drapery, spirits, beer and ale, fencing wire, sacks of clover seed, agriculture implements, turpentine, candles, smoking pipes and assorted hardware. Also included were several Lincoln rams from the ‘celebrated flock of Mr Kirkham of Biscathorpe’, selected specifically for Colonel George Stoddart Whitmore’s Rissington Estate.

On the morning of Sunday, 24^th March 1867, after a 103 day voyage, the majestic fully-rigged ship, Montmorency sailed into Hawke Bay where it dropped anchor in the Ahuriri roadstead. The following morning the ship was inspected for disease, and the resulting report commented on ‘the cleanliness and comfort of the vessel and the healthy state of the passengers after such a long voyage’. 

To encourage employment opportunities the immigrants were described in the newspaper as ‘a very superior class’ of people, and because each adult was required to repay their passage money of £17 within three years, they could land with a ‘feeling of self-respect as true colonists’.

Early next morning, Captain McKenzie went ashore and formally reported the arrival of the ship to the agents Stuart & Co, and Customs Officer. He then returned to the ship to supervise the landing of the immigrants along with their bedding – most of their possessions were sent ashore on the Wednesday.

During the early hours of Thursday morning (28 March), the sailor on night-watch discovered dense smoke issuing from a hatchway and immediately sent-up rockets to alert those on shore. An attempt was made to dampen the fire by the chief officer, boatswain and sailmaker who ventured tentatively down between decks, pointing a hose into the hold but had to quickly retreat owing to the density of smoke and leaping flames. As the fire became more ravenous the crew had to hurriedly escape in the ship’s four rowing boats.

The distressed ship, totally engulfed in devouring flames, had fortunately been seen by Lieutenant Britten of the 12^th Regiment, while on watch at the military barracks on Napier Hill. He immediately saddled a horse and yelling ‘fire’ at intervals, galloped furiously down to the Spit to raise the alarm.

Meanwhile the ‘Hawke’s Bay Times’ staff busy printing the morning newspaper, were interrupted by the incessant and alarming ring of fire bells. Ever-ready to be the first on the scene to report a story, they rushed outside to investigate and were told that the Montmorency was on fire.

Meanwhile those on the beach witnessed the rigging and masts of the vessel catch fire, the flames being spectacularly driven upward by the breeze. The scene was breathtaking, especially when the sails were suddenly unfurled by the force of the flames, scattering showers of burning fragments that fell like golden rain, into the sea. All through the night the vessel burned, and by daylight little remained other than the hull.

It was decided by officials to remove the still smoldering vessel close to shore, away from the Provincial Government’s mooring. The first attempt to tow the Montmorency by the Star of the South, proved unsuccessful owing to the complex entanglement of the still smoldering hull with fallen masts, wire rigging and chains. The second attempt by the Star of the South proved successful and the remains were left stranded close to the beach between the Spit and the Napier bluff. Here, the wreck of this ‘once noble ship’ lay, slowly disintegrating until all that remained was an odd assortment of items, keenly sought by divers searching for sunken treasure.

Published in the Hawke’s Bay Today newspaper on 21 January 2023 and written by Gail Pope, Social History Curator at MTG Hawke’s Bay.

Many stories, all correct

Te Mata o Rongokako, the Sleeping Giant. Hawke’s Bay Today Photo by Warren Buckland

As we know there are many stories in our oral histories that are in conflict with each other, and they are all correct.

A classic example of this is our local Rongokako born of Tato, who never gets a mention. Tato is from Tata, who is from Rere, who is from Rauru, who is from Hingunu a Rangi, who is from Awanui a Rangi, who is from Rongo Ueroa, who is from Toi Kai Rākau who arrived here from Whāngārā in Hawaiiki looking for his mokopuna Whātonga. We know all about his Dad though, who is always mentioned, however Tamatea, as Admiral of Takitimu on this side of the whakapapa, arrived down-under in the last shower to these shores. With the landing of Tākitimu at Mauao in Tauranga Moana, a local female by the name of Toto harnessed Tamatea Ariki Nui and forced him into submission – somewhat  weakened after a lengthy voyage. This resulted in a child Rongokako who was to become the grandfather of Kahungunu.

One can see Rongokako from Flaxmere looking east, you will see a person lying down. You will see the face, Te Mata, a mouth, nose and brow of Rongokako on the upper points of the skyline. His head to the south and his feet to the north. This is where the different oral histories start, extending from down South to Wairarapa to Bay of Plenty via Havelock North, Cape Kidnappers, Mahia, Whāngārā and Hauraki. These are love stories locally and from outside of Hawke’s Bay.

In one version many moons ago in Heretaunga was a giant of a man, Rongokako. He loved eating people. Particularly those travelling from the Heretaunga Plains to the ocean at Waimarama – but anybody would do. To stop this Hinerākau, a young belle from Pakipaki, was chosen to swiftly harness him and force him into submission. However they both fell in love with each other.

The hapū of Heretaunga Plains wanted revenge and set tasks for Rongokako to prove his devotion to Hinerākau – seemingly impossible tasks, of which the last was to be fatal. Rongokako was coerced into biting his way through hillock from inner plain to ocean on the premise of an easier path of travel between hinterland and sea. This mammoth task choked him and he died according to plan. Called Pari Kārangaranga it is the space of the missing mouthful of hillock seen today and the cliffs created are known to echo. Hinerākau, bereft, leapt to her death from a cliff on the Waimarama side of Te Mata o Rongokako.

Venture east to the land of the whale rider and it’s a totally different version. It is said that Kiwa sent Rongokako to Tūranganui a Kiwa to investigate the late arrival of Horouta waka. Stepping through Ōhiwa he met Pāoa and they had a tussle. Apparently Pāoa’s wife had a thing for Rongokako and he did not want his wife to have her way with Rongokako. While Pāoa was no match for Rongokako, Paoa’s wife frightened Rongokako and he fled leaving footprints at Wharekahika Hicks Bay, at Kaiora in Whangara South, in Tūranga, Nukutaurua Mahia, Te Matau a Māui Cape Kidnappers, down to Wellington and across the Cook Strait more commonly known as Raukawa and then into oblivion. Such was the impact of Pāoa’s wife.

Meanwhile, back in Hawke’s Bay, another version says due to Rongokako devouring people, the locals simply burnt him out of his cave and he ran away leaving his footprints to the east as we know them. Pāoa lay a trap for him in the Bay of Plenty fearing the amorous nature of his wife. These versions and many others are all correct.

Published in Hawke’s Bay Today on 14 January 2023 and written by Te Hira Henderson, Curator Taonga Maori at MTG Hawke’s Bay.

Looking to the year ahead…

Looking to the year ahead there’s a lot going on at MTG Hawke’s Bay. Our collections team will be hard at work on the new facility and preparing the collection for moving to the new facility in Hastings. This is a more time consuming and complex matter than you might suppose. Objects are not necessarily going from like to like storage.

The new facility has modern museum storage systems which means many of the collections need to be repacked to fit the new system. Other items, such as paintings, which are currently stored in crates, need to have new hanging mechanisms attached so they can be hung on mesh racks. This means they will also be easier to see and access.

We have a number of interesting exhibitions in the pipeline. We’ll have a show to celebrate the creative outputs of Fane Flaws, one of Hawke’s Bays creative treasures. A rich selection of stunning and award winning fashion designs by Minh Ta will be on display, along with the fascinating story of her life.

Fiona Pardington visited MTG in 2022 to photograph the huia in our collection. The results of this visit will be displayed and are sure to be impactful, as Fiona’s works always is. And the 1931 Hawke’s Bay Earthquake gallery will be re-envisioned to incorporate more of the stories from across the region, as well as a little bit about the science behind earthquakes and, importantly, what to do to keep yourself safe.

Obviously a fair bit of our year will be focused on the new facility in Hastings as there will always be details to iron out and compromises to be made. Our team will be involved in these decisions to ensure operational practicalities and a positive experience for visitors is kept in mind. I have no doubt at the end we will have created a facility that will protect and treasure the collections we hold on behalf of the community, while at the same time making them more accessible to all.

At the same time as we will be working on the building project, the Joint Working Group (Napier & Hastings Councils, Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust and Iwi) will be exploring alternatives to the existing governance model of the museum. Currently MTG has one of the most complex governance set ups in the country and everyone is committed to trying to find a model that works better. I’m sure we’ll land on a model and funding structure that allows the museum to grow and flourish, as there is always more we would like to do for the community.

No doubt 2023 will bring plenty of surprises and hopefully plenty of successes as well. We wish you and your families a happy and safe year and we look forward to seeing you at the museum.

Published in the Hawke’s Bay Today newspaper 7 January 2023 and written by Laura Vodanovich, Director at MTG Hawke’s Bay

A year of hard work and successes at MTG

Award winning Kuru Taonga: Voices of Kahungunu exhibition

Like most people, I think, I have found the past two or three years quite tough and I was hugely relieved when Covid mandates were finally lifted and we could all see each other’s faces again! I think the last few years have taught us all that we need to look after ourselves mentally, emotionally and physically and, to that end, I took a longer than usual break earlier in the year and spent time walking, reading, catching up with friends and family and giving myself space to recharge my batteries.

Despite all the challenges, and due to the amazing team at MTG Hawke’s Bay, we still managed to achieve quite a lot during 2022.

Around mid-year we said a sad farewell to the hugely popular A Bloody Business: the history of five Hawke’s Bay freezing works and replaced it with another hit exhibition – Silver Shadows: the story of Marineland. This show has bought out many a story from our visitors of their memories of Marineland and even bought a few people to tears – it’s clear that, like the freezing works, Marineland has left its mark on the community.

We’ve had a number of art shows over the year including; Nature/Culture which examined our relationship with nature, Te ahua,te wa, te atea by Russ Flat which reimagined, using digital tools, what the landscape looked like before colonisation occurred, and artist Atareta Black was inspired by the MTG collection, exploring traditional weaving techniques and using these to create contemporary artworks in Ki Uta, Ki Tai.

Other exhibitions over the year were Bizarre by Clarice Cliff, looking at the art deco style of this particular design, Operation Grapple which shares the harrowing and hard to believe story of our veterans exposure to nuclear testing in the Pacific, and Bruce Connew: A Vocabulary utilising headstones to expose the history of colonial wars in Aotearoa.

Of course we offer much more than exhibitions, and so were pleased to renew our contract with the Ministry of Education this year. The Ministry supports us to continue delivering programmes for school groups and, with the new curriculum placing an emphasis on Aotearoa’s history, we’re more relevant than ever helping schools understand the history of this place and support their education focus particular to Te Matau-a-Māui.

We created a feedback wall to allow our visitors to easily and freely share their thoughts and ideas, the return of Nuit Blanche was a welcome event and we loved participating in the newest public holiday celebrating Matariki. Having the New Zealand International Film Festival at the Century Theatre is always a highlight of the year and 2022 was no exception.

One of the exciting things this year has been the progress on the building project based in Hastings. Working with Richard Hooper from Hastings District Council and architects from RTA we’ve made great progress on planning and designing a wonderful facility and a total of $14.5 million in external funding has been raised so far, with a further $3.3 million committed by both Hastings and Napier Councils. Physical work will commence next year and we hope to have the collection in its new home in 2024.

I was honoured to go to the opening of the Toitoi Municipal Building – what a wonderful moment for Hawke’s Bay and how great to have this truly glamorous facility available to the community again. Museums Aotearoa hosted a Museums Leadership Summit which I attended, a great opportunity to focus on strategic matters, meet new leadership colleagues and reconnect with others, and provided a moment to take a breath and lift my sights out of the day-to-day business of running a museum. The most special moment for me personally however, was attending the dawn opening of Manahau wharenui at Wharerangi marae – a truly moving occasion and one I will long remember.

If all that wasn’t enough, we were also the recipients of the Colour Maestro award in the installation category of the Resene Total Colour Awards for Kuru Taonga: Voices of Kahungunu. The exhibition has a design based on the colours of the paua shell, a symbol for Kahungunu, and a design element from one of Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan’s dresses. I continue to be in awe of the talent and dedication that the team brings to our exhibitions – they’re a real superstar team! All in all a year of hard work and great successes. Thank you all for your ongoing support – the work we do is for you and we’re pleased that you keep coming. Whether or not your family celebrates Christmas we hope you enjoy the holiday season and wish you all the best for the coming year.

Published in the Hawke’s Bay Today newspaper 31 December 2022 and written by Laura Vodanovich, Director at MTG Hawke’s Bay