These stories began before we arrived Exhibition / Art Installation

These stories began before we arrived was a project that brought together Taiwanese and Māori artists. It came about following an Asia New Zealand Foundation curators' tour, during which time curators Charlotte Huddleston, Jamie Hanton and Bruce E. Phillips visited artists and art spaces in Taiwan. Following this tour, the curators collaborated to present an exhibition and a publication. The exhibition was first presented at the 2015 Taipei International Book Exhibition, then presented by Te Tuhi at Silo 6, Wynyard Quarter, Tāmaki Makaurau during Artweek Auckland.

The project brought the six artists together to acknowledge connections between peoples in Taiwan and Aotearoa through historic migration from Taiwan across the Pacific. The exhibitions featured video works by each artist, each tracing a narrative path through themes of place, longing and belonging. In the exhibition texts, the curators stated that:

The artworks explore themes of collective identity, land use, international trade, ancestral knowledge and societal order. Together, these works build connections between distinct histories and propose potential futures.

Reviewing the exhibition for the now-defunct website #500words, Lana Lopesi wrote:

These stories began before we arrived is high quality exhibition making. [...] Thematically, each work was so tightly hand picked and placed, visually faultless. The supplementary thematic essays in English and Mandarin were so generous and full.

The exhibition was part of a curatorial shift towards foregrounding “Asia-Pacific” thinking in artistic practice in Aotearoa, which took place across the 2010s, alongside exhibitions such as The Maui Dynasty, curated by Anna-Marie White, lei-pā, curated by Lopesi and Ahilapalapa Rands, and The Asia-Pacific Century, curated by Ioana Gordon-Smith and Emma Ng.

These stories began before we arrived — Te Tuhi

These stories began before we arrived 2 — Te Tuhi

2015 (February) — These stories began before we arrived, 2015 Taipei International Book Exhibition, WXY Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

2015 (October) — These stories began before we arrived, Silo 6, Wynyard Quarter, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland