He Korowai Mahana. To Be Cloaked In The Comfort Of Whakapapa.

Donna Dinsdale – Solo Exhibition. Retrospective and New Works.

13th July – 14th August 2023

Donna has described how this beautiful invitation was conceived and it’s connection to the exhibition.

The background letter is a transcripted letter of my Mum’s Uncle Dudley from WW2, he wrote to his mum every day and unfortunately never made it home as he was killed, my new work is based around him. I also put in the seven sisters stars of Matariki and the post stamps off the letters. The blanket frame was envisioning that the mum  was at home with a framed picture of her son hanging on the wall when she received the letters.

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This exhibition includes a collection of retrospective works, including the work that was recently showcased at WOW The World Of Wearable Art but there is also a wonderful duo of new works created to celebrate Dudley. These works explore familiar lines and the communication between a son and his mother during the Second World War. There is a deep honouring of whakapapa, love and remembrance.

Every item on display tells a wonderful story with twists and turns to the plot and the character development with all the fine details and symbolic embellishments that enrich the garments. The foundational material for all the works is the quintessential NZ Pure Wool Blanket in all its various manifestations from the heavy grey of military blankets to the vibrant hot pinks and smouldering oranges of the domestic versions. There would be very few older New Zealanders who had not been embraced in the comfort of one of these blankets at some stage of their lives. They form an intrinsic part of our culture, resonating with overtones of our agricultural dependance, our need to be self sufficient as a manufacturing nation before globalisation and our volatile, often harsh, island environment.

The exhibition was reviewed for the press:

Stepping into the gallery the visitor is immediately ‘wrapped’ in a sense of warmth, comfort and beauty, as the eye dances across the colourful mannequins and stunning photo drops that fill the space. At first glance this exhibition appears to be an acknowledgement of a very skilful seamstress who has chosen to use our NZ Heritage Woollen Blankets as her preferred material. And while this first impression is totally true it is just a taster of the delights Donna has crafted into each of the complex conceptual works. This exhibition spans a five year period of Donna’s art practice. 
The main view window holds all the magic and delight of Wāhine Toa, a 2022 finalist at The World of Wearable Art Awards, Wellington. Wāhine Toa, in the shape of the Matariki Star, celebrates the spirit of hope, reflection and unity arising from the Covid pandemic period.and particularly poignant at this time of our year. There are parts of 55 different blankets in the gown while the head piece is crafted from more than 100 handmade plaits referencing the Māori Poi.
New work made for this exhibition acknowledges Donna’s ancestral roots in Taranaki, telling the story of Dudley Lewis Stagpoole – a Lance Corporal in the 27 (Machine Gun) Battalion in WW2. One of three children to Martin Dudley Stagpoole and Edith Blanche (nee Luxton) of New Plymouth Dudley signed up for the army and proudly went off by sea to the war. He wrote home daily to his Mother until being killed in action aged 32 years on 14th July 1942. The family holds this treasured archive and it is from here that Donna has drawn her inspiration and her content to create a two piece work that truely celebrates the deep bond between Mother and Son. Military issue vintage woollen blankets are overlaid with images of the people and the correspondence, embellished with family taonga, creating vessels of honour and reverence that all peoples can relate to and connect with.
The significance of Matariki and the rising of hope, dream for better things to come, recognition of sacrifices and mahi undertaken that we pause to consider at this time is running as a deep current through all the subtle and complex statements Donna has crafted into her works. Each one speaks of a dream for a better, richer, stronger world going forward while drawing deeply into our cultural roots to create the best of foundations to build on. 

There is some more information about the work “Pakanga – The heat of battle.”

Pakanga – The Heat of Battle 

This is the story of the relationship between a mother and son and the deep emotional bond they shared. 

Dudley Lewis Stagpoole was a Lance Corporal in the 27 (Machine Gun) Battalion in WW2. Son of Martin Dudley Stagpoole and Edith Blanche Stagpoole (nee Luxton) of New Plymouth, Taranaki, he was a single man employed as a clerk. The story goes that he wanted to join the army and he was proud to serve his country. 

He wrote to his mother daily, on the sea journey, in the trenches and on dry land from the Western Desert, North Africa. The original letters he wrote are treasured by Donna’s family and are held dearly to this day. 

Pakanga – The Heat of Battle honours these letters, the memories and the huge loss the family suffered when he was killed in action age 32yrs on 14th July 1942. 

Dudley is buried in the urupā (burial ground) at El Alamein War Cemetery, Egypt.

Description of garments notes recorded by Donna Dinsdale.

General – The colour palette of blue is something that came up when I was talking to mum, she remembered her grandmother (Edith) in a blue dress. 

Fabrics – My grandmother Rita (on mum’s side) passed away before I was born, she was a home dress maker and before she was married was the first women do a tailoring apprentice in Whanganui, when my grandfather passed in 1986, I was gifted a metal hat box with scraps of her fabric that he had kept all these years. The top two frills of the skirt, the cape piping, the lining under the collars and pockets are these fabrics. All the fabrics and dollies etc have been hand dyed in shades of blue to form this colour palette. 

Blankets – Most of these have been gifted to Donna by other family members.

Textiles – The dollies, napkins etc were either gifted to me or passed down in my family. 

Jacket 

Style – Inspired by a tradition Military Jacket

Sleeve embroidery – extracts from the letters

Back Embroidery – “I GIVE AND BEQUEATH” was in Edith’s final will when she gifted Dudley’s war journal to her other son Gordon, Dudley’s brother after her death. CAMEO – Replica of Edith’s cameo, she wore this all the time as can be seen in some of the photos on the jacket.

Lining and outside lining imagery – Digital textile print of family photos – Dudley, Edith, the four sisters of Dudley, my mum and her mother. The letters and original envelopes, some in their original state and some typed and transcribed. Newspaper clippings, from the time of death was reported in the local paper.

Upper Pocket – A kerchief with a small image of Dudley at a family wedding when he was a small boy. 

Fob watch – This is from my dad’s side of the family, the handkerchief above it was my dad’s, he passed away on 25^th December 2015.

Embroidered small rocker patch that is above the handkerchief – “Aotearoa” to acknowledge his county of origin. 

Buttons – Original WW1 and WW2 buttons from NZ armed forces.

Shoulder plaits – Four plaits as used in Māori culture for poi for a military reference.

Medals – Created Regalia to represent Dudley and Edith. Off cuts of the digital textile print rubber stamps from the envelopes. Vintage cuff links I have been given. The mother broach was a gift from my mother to her mother when she was quite young, before she got married to my dad. The pennies have come from Johns side of the whanau.

Cape  

Design – A replica of a WW2 Nurses uniform cape.

Collar embroidery – I asked my mum to do this so she could be part of my project and her presence / contribution could be carried with the narrative of the work. She didn’t want to and hadn’t embroidered in years but I said whatever you want mum, in honour of your uncle and I left the design up to her, there were no guidelines. We did briefly talk about flowers but I think it is what she felt comfortable doing at that time, it was perfect!! In the end she actually really enjoyed doing it, she was 88yrs old at the time. 

Back Embroidery – A slightly modified version of the rubber stamp used to indicate the date and location of the letter on one of the original envelopes.  The number was Dudley’s assigned number in the 27 (Machine Gun) Battalion.

Broach – Embroidered small rocker patch – “Write Home First” was on the original envelopes. The pearls were my mums. The small piece of fur came from the hat box and I think was originally a trim on a coat. 

Lining – Same as Jacket. 

Skirt

Design – It really was designed to complement the cape and show off the fabrics

Fabrics and textiles – as above

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Several works in He Korowai Mahana. To Be Cloaked In The Comfort Of Whakapapa were previously exhibited as Te Atu Aotearoa – the essence of our wahine. Attached below is the catalogue for this original exhibition.

I am also including some images taken of the sculptural garments as they were a part of He Korowai Mahana. To Be Cloaked In The Comfort Of Whakapapa.

For more information about Donna please check out this link https://fromoutofthebluestudiogallery.com/donna-dinsdale/

Donna collaborated with an Australian designer/consultant Greet Recoules to generate this announcement. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/greet-recoul%C3%A8s-15463331/)