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Tāhū brings together a collective of Indigenous Māori Artists from the East Coast North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. The Māori term Tāhū (also known as tāhuhu), has layered conceptualisation of indigenous knowledge and practice. Tāhū is described as the first weft in the weaving of a traditional Māori garment, or, as the main ridge-pole of a traditional ancestral house. Both concepts have underlying threads that connect people and place – a metaphor of weaving a direct line of ancestry, through genealogy, design and story.

The offerings of contemporary artwork by these selected indigenous Māori artists interweave notions of identity, connection and belonging. A visual form of communication and coding, each artist draws from ancestral narrative passed down from generation to generation, giving voice of lineage through their unique cultural language of art, design, form and colour.

The artists express their views, appreciation and enlightenment of Tāhū through their distinct practice, learnings and teachings. While contrasting in imagery, symbolism, style and discipline, each work is visually connected through a weft of red, referencing ancestral connection to the supreme creator, life, genealogy and legacy.

All of the exhibiting artists are descendants of ‘nannies and pāpā’ who campaigned with the 28th Māori Battalion during the Second World War. The collective voice of Tāhū brings the artists from Aotearoa New Zealand to Firenze to also honour legacy of home and voyages beyond, recconecting journeys of past, paying tribute to those who sacrificed for our today.