George Tamihana Nuku is one of New Zealand's leading contemporary artists. As a sculptor, he works with stone, bone, wood and shell, but above all with polystyrene and Plexiglass. From 18 May 2025, the Eth-nological Museum will be presenting three large-scale interventions by the Māori artist in two rooms of the ‘Oceania’ exhibition area in the Humboldt Forum. These were created during two fellowships that George Nuku completed in March 2024 and from March to May 2025 as part of the The Collaborative Museum initiative.
Manatunga is the Māori word given for precious objects, heirlooms and ancestral treasures. The word itself implies that they are standing - up-right. It is also used in the context that these special pieces are concen-trated repositories of histories and emotions.
The interventions created by George Nuku especially for the Oceania section of the Ethnologisches Museum's (Ethnological Museum) permanent presentation in the Humboldt Forum will be shown in two rooms: a large-format installation in the large boat hall (room 215) will focus on the relationship between humans and the sea and the influences of climate change and environmental pollution.