Māori for a Free Palestine
Courtesy of Zines4Pal.
now on
6 Nov
–
30 Nov
Ngāpuhi Aunties, Zines4Pal
Māori for a Free Palestine is a kaupapa by Zines4Pal, a whānau of Ngāpuhi Aunties that love pūoro, drawing, weaving and dismantling systems and ideologies of oppression.
For the past 394 days we have bared witness to the atrocities happening in Palestine. For many of us, this was the first time we have learned and understoof the full effect of the ongoing genocide and colonisation of the whenua and people in Palestine. The erasure of Palestinian identity and existence connects to our experiences as tāngata whenua.
In our recent and ongoing learnings, we understood our responsibility to ensuring that we as kaitiaki become story re-tellers of the experiences of our Palestinian whānau, of their stories, culture and experiences. To whakamana their experiences, we remain committed to teaching our tamariki about Palestine so that we will never forget. This is an ask our Palestinian whānau have shared with us on the ground in Gaza over these past 394 days and throughout te ao. We as tāngata whenua hold in our hearts the mamae and honour the signficance of the immense loss of generations and whakapapa lines.
As tāngata whenua we will forever be in solidarity alongside tāngata whenua. We remain committed and proactive in our learning and unlearning, and ensure our sight and hearts are open to our indigenous understanding and relationships. We will forever be learning, we will forever be brave in our solidarity, we will amplify the voices of our whānau and do better - kia pai ake!
Our challenges are interconnected, so too will be our freedom.
ABOUT ZINES4PAL
Zines4Pal are a whānau of Ngāpuhi Aunties that love pūoro, drawing, weaving and dismantling systems and ideologies of oppression. We are horrified at the genocide taking place in Palestine and globally to our indigenous whānau and to tāngata whenua here in Aotearoa. We wanted to transform our riri into action through our mahi toi.
On 3 November 2023 we created Zines4Pal. We are committed to using our passions and privileges to raise awareness, unify and amplify the voices and experiences of our whānau through our solidarity. We do not want our solidarity to ever be louder than the voices and experiences of our whānau. We honour our whānau and honour their story.
Other key forces of our kaupapa are solidarity through mahi toi, solidarity through whanaungatanga and education in the kainga.
We do not do this in isolation and honour our tuakana and the aunties of ngā iwi taketake that show up for our collective freedom and liberation and have done so, since before we were even aunties.
We stand on the shoulders of generations of Ngāpuhi aunties, leaders, rebels, rangatira and ringatoi who have and continue to call for the freedom of all people. There are many aunties that are apart of Zines4Pal and we are not the only aunties calling for a Free Palestine.
We acknowledge all past present and future aunties.
Stitching Solidarity: Artists for Palestine
Embroidered handkerchief by A.K.
now on
6 Nov
–
30 Nov
Stitching Solidarity is the first iteration of a collective kaupapa inspired by a long history of collaborative artist-activist quilt making. The project brings artists from across the motu together to enact solidarity with the people of Palestine, through the creation of a solidarity quilt. Each participant has contributed a fabric artwork of set dimensions. These will be stitched together in Enjoy Contemporary Art Space.
The gallery will be open to the public during the stitching process, holding space for kōrero, grief, solidarity and aroha. Visitors are invited to participate in the active process of solidarity by contributing a stitch to a fabric banner. This will be sewn onto the quilt’s lower edge upon the project’s completion.
Stitching Solidarity runs until International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on November 29. The quilt will then travel around the motu, expanding in scale as the communities which host it add their own contributions.
Rachel Dedman, in the preface to Stitching the Intifada: Embroidery and Resistance in Palestine, writes:
Embroidery has, perhaps, an unlikely role in the charged context of protest. And yet, in both loud and quiet ways, in public and private, the history of the craft is bound up in Palestinian struggles for freedom and nationhood.
This quilt is our small contribution to that ongoing struggle.
No one is free until we all are free.
Free Free Palestine.
This project was conceived by Kirsty Baker and has been facilitated in collaboration with Elle Loui August, Zoe Black, Abby Cunnane, Simon Gennard, Ioana Gordon-Smith, Milly Mitchell-Anyon, Israel Randell, DJCS and Matariki Williams.
If you or your organisation are interested in hosting the quilt, please email: aotearoasolidarityquilt@gmail.com