Turumeke Harrington

Bio

Turumeke Harrington (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Rangitāne) is an artist based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara.

She has shown extensively across Aotearoa, often producing generous installations and sculptural work at the intersection of art and design.

Humour, play and bright colours are frequently used to soften and subvert often tense and difficult subjects. 

Guided by whakapapa and a practice of whanaukataka, Turumeke asks how to make and live as a good person.

With experience working as an exhibition designer and technician within large institutions, Turumeke is interested in contributing to the arts being an enjoyable industry to work in.

Turumeke has recently completed an MFA at Massey University Te Kunenga ki Purehuroa. Recent awards include the Arts Foundation’s Springboard Toi-o-Moroki award (2022), Kā Pūtea Masters Scholarship (2021), Colin Post Memorial Scholarship in Sculpture (2020), Ngāi Tahu Research Centre Scholarship (2018), Winston Churchill/ Hawke’s Bay Design Trust Fellowship (2017), and Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarship to undertake an MDes at Emily Carr University, Vancouver (2017). Recent solo exhibitions include Loose Units, Page Galleries (2023), Tātou, tātou nau mai rā, Christchurch Art Gallery (2022), He pito mata I’m energetic! The Dowse Art Museum (2022), (Tīkaro) Slowly dawning, Page Galleries (2022), SPECIAL TIME (Ehara i te tī), Blue Oyster Art Project Space (2021), and Mahoranuiatea Looking out in every direction, Objectspace (2020).

Turameke Harrington‘s images

He pito mata, I’m energetic!
The Dowse, 2022
Steel, aluminium, silk, fibreglass, acrylic, 5-channel audio, cotton, wool

For Hineateao, No U-Turns
Originally commissioned for Govett-Brewster, 2022
Steel, polypropylene, aluminium

Shelter Belt
Cook & Co, Objectspace, 2023
Acrylic, steel, nylon, polymer clay (detail)

You [I] Can’t Be (All Things To All Men) Chillout Sessions Vol. I – XIII
Help Yourself, Enjoy Contemporary Art Project Space, 2021
Nylon, steel
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Soft Wood #2
Ko wai rā te manu?, Futuna Chapel, 2022
Ruru feather, sterling silver, muka

Tīkaro) Slowly dawning
Page Galleries, 2022
Acrylic, steel, watercolour, electrical components

If I owned my backyard I’d say, “BUILD IT, BIGGER, BABY!”
Loose units, Page Galleries, 2023
Acrylic, flashe on canvas