Georgina May Young + Rocko Neon Young Norling, Whakatiputipu (reverse), 2025. Photo by Jordan Davey-Emms.
Join us in-person or online for a conversation between He Hokinga Mahara artists Melanie Tangaere Baldwin and Georgina May Young.
The artists will discuss the themes, materials, and whanaunga present in their works with input from Blue Oyster staff members Piupiu Maya Turei and Jordan Davey-Emms.
Zoom details:
Click here to join the meeting, or use the information below. The link will take you to a digital waiting room. You will be admitted when the talk begins.
Meeting ID: 818 1023 5044
Passcode: 369296
Access information:
This is a free event.
Access to the gallery is via a slope and 2 steps.
The artist talk will take around 45 minutes, with time at the end for questions and answers.
Melanie will be video calling from Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa Gisborne. Technical difficulties are possible; please be patient with us!
A range of seating options will be available.
There is a toilet on-site, please note that it is not wheelchair accessible.
About the exhibition:
He Hokinga Mahara is an exhibition by Melanie Tangaere Baldwin and Georgina May Young + Āio and Rocko Neon Young Norling, in dialogue with their whānau, atua, ancestors and pūrakau. Please see the exhibition webpage for more information.
Melanie Tangaere Baldwin (Ngāti Porou) is a māmā, artist and curator based in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa Gisborne. Melanie’s work is largely focused on Mana Wāhine, Indigenous and marginalised peoples, and the effects of capitalism, imperialism and settler colonialism on notions of power, visibility, beauty and worth. Her mahi consistently considers the necessity and obligations of connection, whānau and community. A lot of the time she is just trying to make sense of the world.
Georgina May Young (Te Ūpokorehe, Te Whakatōhea, Pākehā) was born in Ōpōtiki and is now based in Ōtepoti. Young constructs realms layer by layer in celebration of Te Taiao. A gardener, mother and textile artist, her work moves within whakapapa, cosmic kinship and the memories held in whenua, moana and the stars—tracing ancestral knowledge and potential imagined futures. Rooted in daily ritual and a slow life, her practice rejects capitalist excess in favor of deep connection—honoring process, reciprocity and the mauri of materials. Her works feel as though they belong to an ancient civilization—carried close, found on a hillside, or unearthed from the mud.
