A work in a new Forrester Gallery exhibition speaks to the voices we’ve often not heard, writes Anna McLean.
There is always something special about art that has the innate ability to reveal dynamic cultural histories and intrigue the most spirited art non-believers.
Art, alongside other creative outlets, provides us an opportunity to pause from our personal experiences and place ourselves within the thoughts and feelings of others.
When I saw Bev Moon’s exhibition ‘‘Fortune’’ for the first time, it resonated with me immensely. How could I be so ignorant and unaware of the harsh realities experienced by early Chinese settlers in Aotearoa New Zealand?
In 1881, the New Zealand Government laid out a discriminatory Chinese Immigrants Act that imposed poll taxes and restrictions affecting Chinese workers moving to our shores to undertake physical labour in the Central Otago gold fields.
The Chinese Poll Tax started at £10 per person, the number of migrants entering the country restricted to one passenger for every 10 tonnes of cargo. In 1896, it was updated to one passenger for every 200 tonnes, the poll tax increased to £100 (equivalent to around $20,000 today), and an English language test was also added.
Bev Moon’s great grandfathers, on both sides, arrived and settled in Otago, facing these same restrictions, working away from their families in less-than-optimal conditions.
Inspired by the intergenerational skills involved in traditional Chinese knitting and cooking, she honours her mother, Yip Sue Yen, and her grandmother, Lee Choy Kee, in her handcrafted yum cha series.
Her mother and grandmother were among the 500 Chinese women and children granted temporary refuge in Aotearoa New Zealand during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945).
Bev Moon is an artist and museum collection manager residing in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. She grew up in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington and her parents spent time living in Ōamaru.
Her work seeks ‘‘to communicate the stories of her ancestors, conveying their courage and resilience’’. Banquet (2024) is a prime example of this. Through a generous bequest, the Forrester Gallery has been able to purchase this empowering mahi toi, which accompanies the exhibition ‘‘Redefining Space’’.
Many thanks to Benny Chan at Bergman Gallery and Janice Burnett of the Ōamaru Chinese Association for their support.
• Anna McLean is curator-gallery at the Forrester Gallery in Ōamaru.
