New People Needed

In Aotearoa, we are all migrants, having crossed vast waters to make a home here in the southernmost archipelago of Te Moana Nui a Kiwa, the great ocean of Kiwa. With the migration of many different people, spread across generations, our identity and self-representation have evolved over time. Who we are and how we dress is a reflection of those journeys both past and present and although we wear western dress, what we choose to wear and how we wear it it is unique to here. Has our Maori and Pasifika heritage influenced the way we dress? What does contemporary Aotearoa style look like today and does it reach beyond our shores?

Moana Currents: Dressing Aotearoa Now invites you to explore these question through an exhibition of the work of 16 designers, 5 contemporary jewellers, and 6 tattoo artists. To frame this properly we want to fashion our mannequins/body forms in the same way that Pacific peoples have always fashioned their bodies, with tattoo, adornments, and dress. For this we need our own 'family' of 16 Moana-styled mannequins. They will be painted, inked and then adorned with contemporary garments and jewellery so they look like real contemporary New Zealanders.

Just as we led the way in creating New Zealand's first online museum we want to lead the way in this representation ourselves as the diverse people we are, Moana people. You can contribute to the advancement of this cultural conversation by making a donation to help us purchase our 'family' of 16 mannequins.
Note - The naming of mannequins by modelmakers and visual merchandisers has a long history and we will give our major donors ($500 and over) the right to name a member of the family of mannequins.

[https://youtu.be/mGKWAkFlJVw]