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| Established | 1971 |
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| Location | Lower Hutt, New Zealand |
| Website | dowse |
The Dowse Art Museum is a municipal art gallery in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. [1]
Opening in 1971 in the Lower Hutt CBD, [2] The Dowse occupies a stand-alone building adjacent to other municipal facilities. The building was completely remodelled in 2013. [3] The Dowse's holdings generally focus on New Zealand artists of both national and local significance.
The Dowse Art Museum is named after Mayor Percy and Mayoress Mary Dowse, both of whom died prior to the museum opening. Percy Dowse served as the mayor of Hutt City from 1950 to 1970. He was a firm believer in the principle of having physical, social, and cultural facilities in modern cities and he initiated a building phase in the city that saw the construction of landmark buildings such as the War Memorial Library, the Lower Hutt Town Hall, and the Ewen Bridge. He championed the addition of an art gallery to the building spree. His wife, Mary Dowse, was the first president of the Hutt Valley National Council of Women. [4] She was also an ardent supporter of the arts. She teamed up with Elizabeth Harper from The Hutt Art Society, and the duo lobbied the City Council. They succeeded in their endeavor when, in 1963, the Council agreed to provide space for an art gallery. The gallery was originally housed in an extension of the War Memorial Library but after Mary died in a road accident in 1964 the City Council made a unanimous decision to honor her by constructing a new building for the art gallery. The museum was only partially completed when Percy died in 1970. [5]
Holdings include national figures such as Ralph Hotere, Colin McCahon, Don Peebles and Gordon Walters [17] as well as locally connected, nationally significant, artists as Rangi Hetet, [2] Rangimārie Hetet, [18] Gordon Crook and Hariata Ropata-Tangahoe. There have been strong exhibitions of modern Maori and Pacific artists and issues. [19] [20] The Dowse has a bust of Carmen Rupe by Paul Rayner [21] [22] and significant collections of jewelry by Alan Preston. [23] [24]
Māori traditional textiles are the indigenous textiles of the Māori people of New Zealand. The organisation Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa, the national Māori weavers' collective, aims to preserve and foster the skills of making and using these materials.
Waiwhetū is an eastern suburb of Lower Hutt in the Wellington Region situated in the south of the North Island of New Zealand.
Ihakara Porutu "Kara" Puketapu was a New Zealand public servant and Māori leader. He served as Secretary of Maori Affairs and was later chair of Te Āti Awa based in Waiwhetū, Lower Hutt.
Erenora Puketapu-Hetet was a noted New Zealand weaver and author. A key figure in the Māori cultural renaissance, she helped change perceptions of Māori weaving/raranga from craft to internationally recognised art.
Rangikaiamokura Wirihana Hetet is a Māori master carver of Ngāti Tuwharetoa and Ngāti Maniapoto descent.
Diggeress Rangituatahi Te Kanawa was a New Zealand Māori tohunga raranga of Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Kinohaku descent. At the time of her death she was regarded as New Zealand's most renowned weaver.
Dame Rangimārie Hetet was a New Zealand Māori tohunga raranga. She identified with the Ngati Maniapoto iwi.
Tukutuku panelling is a distinctive art form of the Māori people of New Zealand, a traditional latticework used to decorate meeting houses (Wharenui). Other names are Tuitui and Arapaki. Tukutuku flank the posts around the edge of the wharenui, the posts are usually carved and represent ancestors. The patterns of tukutuku have symbolic meanings.
Paul Rayner is an English-New Zealand ceramicist known for his work creating pop culture figures in the tradition of Toby jugs and Staffordshire figurines.
MTG Hawke's Bay Tai Ahuriri is a museum, theatre and art gallery in Napier in New Zealand. MTG Hawke's Bay occupies three buildings that were redeveloped in 2013.
Kohai Grace is a New Zealand weaver. Her iwi are Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Porou, Te Āti Awa and Ngāti Raukawa.
Veranoa Angelique Hetet is a New Zealand Māori weaver and contemporary artist of Te Atiawa, Ngāti Tuwharetoa and Ngāti Maniapoto descent.
Christina Hurihia Wirihana is a New Zealand weaver from Te Arawa, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Rangiunora, Ngāti Raukawa, Tainui iwi.
Areta Rachael Wilkinson is a New Zealand jeweller.
Annie Bonza is a New Zealand fashion designer and a pioneer of boutique fashion. Her signature 'doodle' style consists of braiding, ribbon, beading, embroidery and hand painting clothing with Māori and Polynesia influences. Her work has been exhibited at Te Papa and has won awards at the Benson & Hedges Fashion Design Awards in 1971 and 1989.
Sonia Armana Snowden is a New Zealand Māori tohunga raranga who tutored in arts and weaving at Te Wananga o Raukawa. She identifies with the Ngāpuhi iwi. Her works are held in the collection of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
Rangituatahi Te Kanawa is a New Zealand textile conservator and weaver. She is affiliated with the Ngāti Maniapoto iwi.
Kahutoi Mere Te Kanawa is a New Zealand Māori university teacher, curator, weaver and textile artist. Her works have been collected and displayed both nationally and internationally. She has worked as a senior lecturer at the University of Otago and a curator at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Te Kanawa is member of the Auckland War Memorial Museum Te Awa project team. This project uses the expertise of Māori specialists such as Te Kanawa to enrich the information on Māori taonga in the collection of the Museum.
Reweti Arapare is a New Zealand illustrator, sculptor and painter.
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41°12′42″S174°54′15″E / 41.2118°S 174.9043°E
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