From 18 May 2025, the Humboldt Forum presents an intervention in its ‘Oceania’ section: the first Berlin exhibition of celebrated Māori artist George Tamihana Nuku. Known for fusing traditional Polynesian forms with contemporary materials like Plexiglass and polystyrene, Nuku’s three-part installation challenges viewers to rethink their relationship to heritage, the environment, and the museum space itself.
At the heart of the show is Manatunga—a Māori term for ancestral treasures—which underscores Nuku’s philosophy: these are not relics, but dynamic entities that stand upright, vibrating with memory, emotion, and cultural significance. In Room 215, a translucent Plexiglass waka (canoe) floats above a coral display case, steered by Māui and his brothers as they haul plastic sea creatures—crafted from recycled bottles—out of the depths. This dramatic gesture links environmental degradation with ancestral myth and positions pollution not as waste, but as material ripe for sacred transformation.
Two more installations in Room 219 reimagine historic god and ancestor figures within Plexiglass meeting house structures, reframing museum display conventions. Here, weapons and adornments—manatunga—are no longer passive artefacts, but upright, powerful presences.
Nuku’s work resonates with themes of decolonisation, ecological crisis, and continuity between past and future. With Manatunga, the Ethnological Museum and the CoMuse initiative foreground new, collaborative, and critical ways of engaging with collections—bringing both ancestors and rubbish into focus.
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