at Napier art exhibition
The opening of an art and photographic exhibition on Wednesday provided a backdrop for a meeting which could have doubled as a subject of one of the pieces on display - pieces which are now up for auction.
It provided a chance for new Hawke’s Bay Regional Council chairwoman Hinewai Ormsby to introduce herself to race relations conciliator Meng Foon – she as chairwoman of the Board of local iwi Ngati Pārau, and he as a last-minute replacement for artist and activist Tame Iti, who was to have officiated at the opening.
Where she has spent three years on the council and just a few weeks in the chair, he had 18 years’ experience as mayor of Gisborne prior to his appointment in 2019 to the new role, which he’ll serve in for five years.
The occasion - the launch of exhibition Nga Hoa Pākehā at Ahuriri Contemporary, upstairs in the growing boutique art quarter of the Tennyson St to Browning St sector of Hastings St, Napier - was just the setting for a fostering of the future of cultural relationships, the environment and human healing.
Link to article: Chance meeting of public figures at Napier art exhibition - NZ Herald
