He Waa Uenuku | Queer Horologies

‘One of the things we wanted to do was lean into the tensions between takatāpui and queer experiences of time - exploring the resonances but also acknowledging the incommensurables. Uenuku on the surface functions as a translation of rainbow; but more deeply Uenuku carries the mana of ancient tūpuna and atua. As a curator I wanted to invoke the expansive, immeasurable, cyclic, uncontainable, uncommodifiable, fluid temporalities that were ordinary - Māori! - for Uenuku. I wanted to dip us back into those open oceans of possibility. They’re still here. And so are we.’  

For Elliott, the exhibition is about ‘promoting social change towards how we are written about, and helping us take control of how our narratives are being told. Creative arts can be a voice that tells your story especially when you are not in the room.’ 

The exhibition He Waa Uenuku Queer Horologies is part of a wider initiative creating queer and takataapui ecosystems within the arts. Overseen by Drs Nadia Gush, Cassandra Barnett and Zena Elliott in their capacity as The Research Group, the project - LGBTQIATakataapuiMVPFAFF+ Toi Ecologies - looks to bring queer and takataapui artists, performers, curators, and audiences together.  

Research Group co-founder Nadia Gush said of Toi Ecologies, ‘it’s important to bring people together in this way, as queer and takataapui art, artists and their audiences are not always as visible as their non-queer counterparts. If you go into a gallery today and ask to see queer or takataapui art they often can't show you because they don't know if they have any. When the arts are one of the most effective means of communication and paths to wellbeing, this invisibility becomes a problem.’  

Both exhibition and events are designed to coincide with Hamilton Pride celebrations for 2026. 

The exhibition He Waa Uenuku Queer Horologies will be showing at the GAPA Galleries, University of Waikato from 6 March to 16 June. The Toi Ecologies project is also offering an artists’ panel discussion to accompany the exhibition on 15 April at 11am, a taonga puoro performance by Oro Mauri on 16 April at 6pm, and a movement lab with Lisa Benson later in May, all hosted by the University. With funding from the Rule Foundation and the Creative Communities Scheme, all events are free to attend.