Tracey Williams: My Ship / Teenei Wakaheera

The Tauranga Art Gallery invites you to view an exhibition of works by Tracey Williams, on display from October 3rd 2009 - March 2010.

Tracey Williams’ work appropriates everyday events, things or ideas and represents them in ways that asks the viewer to consider how their own sense of reality is constructed.

Her considered approach to layered contexts and hidden meanings allows the often overlooked, underlying narratives to unfold. In this multi-media exhibition, Williams explores the idea that cultural artefacts are often associated with fixed identities and meanings, but can be used in a manner that challenges our preconceptions.

Williams has constructed a custom-made ship to symbolise the cultural connections of Tauranga’s waterfront – as one of the first settlements of both Maori and European, as a link to trade, access to landfall and retreat during times of war, and as a port.

She has then introduced various elements to critique these narratives, such as cladding the ship in textiles and women’s craftwork to symbolise culture-defining histories being recorded exclusively through male voices and deeds.