Areta Wilkinson is known for her exquisitely crafted jewellery. More recently she has blown out notions of jewellery as something wearable. Still under the guise of jewellery, the works have become the emblems of her own story as well as a wider narrative about contemporary Maori.
Her exhibition Waka Huia includes a gorgeous piece of colonial cabinetry - pictured above - and this acts as a contemporary (ironically) waka huia (treasure chest) and a display case. Inside are her collected stories emblemised as objects - the cowboy hat, the moa catcher, the wedding ring to name a few examples.
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