Alex Miln’s Cultural Tangi reimagines the visual language of a weathered picture theatre or roadside attraction. Its rusted surface, raised lettering and illuminated-sign aesthetic create a powerful sense of nostalgia, while the words displayed across the marquee reveal a more confronting story.
The work questions how Māori culture and Aotearoa’s natural environment have been packaged and sold through tourism. The term “Māoriland” was adopted by the Department of Tourist and Health Resorts in 1901 as the country promoted its lakes, mountains, geysers, hot pools and Māori culture to international visitors.
Here, that history is presented as spectacle: “Maidens & Warriors,” concert parties, hāngī, poi, stick games, weaving, tiki and Kiwiana trinkets. Familiar cultural symbols become a programme of entertainment, asking what happens when identity, tradition and place are reduced to attractions for consumption.
Built through numerous translucent layers of paint, the sculptural surface carries a convincing sense of age, corrosion and history. Humour and theatricality draw the viewer closer, while the work’s deeper questions remain difficult to ignore.
Provocative. Layered. Unforgettable.
Oil on timber and aluminium 1300 H × 1600 W × 85 D mm Wall-mounted using a Hang Man hanging system
WALL-MOUNTED room images show styling possibilities only.
Alex Miln’s Cultural Tangi reimagines the visual language of a weathered picture theatre or roadside attraction. Its rusted surface, raised lettering and illuminated-sign aesthetic create a powerful sense of nostalgia, while the words displayed across the marquee reveal a more confronting story.
The work questions how Māori culture and Aotearoa’s natural environment have been packaged and sold through tourism. The term “Māoriland” was adopted by the Department of Tourist and Health Resorts in 1901 as the country promoted its lakes, mountains, geysers, hot pools and Māori culture to international visitors.
Here, that history is presented as spectacle: “Maidens & Warriors,” concert parties, hāngī, poi, stick games, weaving, tiki and Kiwiana trinkets. Familiar cultural symbols become a programme of entertainment, asking what happens when identity, tradition and place are reduced to attractions for consumption.
Built through numerous translucent layers of paint, the sculptural surface carries a convincing sense of age, corrosion and history. Humour and theatricality draw the viewer closer, while the work’s deeper questions remain difficult to ignore.
Provocative. Layered. Unforgettable.
Oil on timber and aluminium 1300 H × 1600 W × 85 D mm Wall-mounted using a Hang Man hanging system
WALL-MOUNTED room images show styling possibilities only.
