Herakles the New Zealand Pioneer: an ancient Greek hero reflects on colonialism

A talk by Dr. Emma Stafford (Leeds)

Marian Maguire’s series of lithographs and etchings The Labours of Herakles superimposes an image of Herakles inspired by Attic black-figure vase-painting onto nineteenth-century New Zealand landscapes, wittily casting the hero as a European Pioneer.  This talk will examine a selection of the prints, looking at their general and specific references to ancient material – including the Museum’s own casts of Greek sculpture – and how these are combined with other sources to create a new (anti-?)hero.  It will focus particularly on Maguire’s use of Herakles, the archetypal ancient colonist, to comment on on-going debates about New Zealand’s colonial past.  

For adults. No need to book.