Cora-Allan Ōtautahi (Christchurch) from the series While at sea 2023. Whenua, kāpia ink, hiapo, brass. Courtesy of the artist
Cora-Allan Encountering Aotearoa 2023 (detail of installation view, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 2023). Pāpā’s travel journal. Photo: Justin Spears
Cora-Allan Ko ao, ko ao, ko Aotearoa! 2023 (installation view, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 2023). Whenua and kāpia ink on birch plywood panels. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Justin Spears
13 April – 25 August 2024
A major body of new work that considers the whenua from the vantage point of the moana.
Cora-Allan (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Tumutumu, Niue – Liku, Alofi) reflects on her recent two-week voyage by sea around Aotearoa, from the bottom of Te Waipounamu to Te Tai Tokerau in the north. Using whenua-pigment, hiapo and other resources from the ngahere, she documented the shapes and views of the whenua of Aotearoa from the perspective of the moana. Cora-Allan was accompanied by her pāpā, Kelly Lafaiki (Niue – Liku, Alofi) who recorded the journey in a journal through notes and pictures, and artist Emily Parr (Ngāi Te Rangi, Moana, Pākehā), who captured the personal interactions of father and daughter in two moving-image works that sit alongside this exhibition. Encountering Aotearoa responds to the legacy of colonial mapping and recording practices, building on Cora-Allan’s research into the artists and botanists aboard the Endeavour during its maiden voyage in 1769.
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Location:
Ravenscar Gallery W A Sutton Gallery -
Curator:
Chloe Cull -
Exhibition number:
1160
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Commentary
Encountering Aotearoa: Whenua, Place and Practice
I stand staring at a painting of Motupōhue Bluff Hill. Being from the far south myself, its shape is instantly recognisable, its silhouette painted in vibrant colours that mirror the way light reflects on the real Motupōhue. The paint used to create this familiar scene is made from whenua, and includes pukepoto, the rich blue pigment that comes from the land near the hill: my whenua. There’s a resonance between the work and its materials that makes it special, layered with connections that reflect my own identity and experiences, reaffirming memories and a sense of belonging.
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Commentary
Whenua is a Portal
Manawa mai tēnei i Ahuone mai
Manawa mai tēnei i whenuatia
Manawa mai tēnei he kapunga oneone
Tēnei te mauri
o Papatūānuku,
o Tūparimaunga,
o Parawhenuamea,
o Ukurangi
E whakaata mai nei e
Kōkiri!