Like a broth, like a cure

Like a broth, like a cure is about illness and remedy, grief and restoration as forms of inheritance. Works by Aroha Novak, Sriwhana Spong and George Watson each contend with historical narratives or structures that invite continual research, and knowledge that may be difficult to reconcile. The exhibition proposes that wellness involves both an engagement with the heaviness of specific colonial histories, and finding ways to revitalise ourselves in the present.

Aroha Novak's installation MAURI-FY occupies the front of the gallery, made from materials found in the artist's studio, garden, hīkoi, and through friends and whanaunga. Sriwhana Spong's Sigil (Rothschild's mynah) is a series of large watercolours referring to a critically endangered bird indigenous to Bali. The exhibition's title comes from Spong's video This Creature, which engages with The Book of Margery Kempe and sensory observations. George Watson's Disavow reflects an interest in the built architecture of early settler colonialism, using forms derived from Victorian wrought iron gates and functioning as a mirror.