Abstract
For their installation 'He Uru Mānuka, He Uru Kānuka' 2024, AWA (Artists for Waiapu Action) revitalises customary net-making and stone fishing weir-building, enabling members of their hapū (clan) and iwi (tribe) to reconnect with the river and its health. They aim ‘to “re-story” lifeways, linking creative practices with ecology to perpetuate cultural and environmental relationships to the lower reaches of the Waiapu.
Artists for Waiapu Action — shortened to AWA, which also means ‘river’ in te reo Māori — is a collaboration between photographer and scholar Natalie Robertson and tohunga taiao restoration ecologist (knowledgeable ecologist) Graeme Atkins, formed to advance action for the Waiapu river from the mountains to the sea through art. Robertson and Atkins share whakapapa (genealogy) to Te Whānau a Pōkai-Pōhatu and Tīkapa Marae, a hapū (sub-tribe) of Ngāti Porou. For their project in the 11th Asia Pacific Triennial, they collaborate with Lionel Matenga, also of Ngāti Pōkai, a tohunga whakairo (skilled carver) and net-weaver. Abraham Karaka brings language and histories, Alex Monteith creates underwater videos and Maree Sheehan generates sonic landscapes.
Seventy artists, collectives and projects from more than 30 countries feature in the eleventh chapter of the flagship QAGOMA exhibition series, the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art. Bringing compelling new art to Brisbane, the Triennial is a gateway to the rapidly evolving artistic expression of Australia, Asia and the Pacific. The Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art is QAGOMA's (Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art) flagship exhibition series.
11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art 30 Nov 2024 – 27 Apr 2025 Queensland Art Gallery & Gallery of Modern Art Free entry https://www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/apt11
AWA (Artists for Waiapu Action), Aotearoa New Zealand est. 2023 'He Uru Mānuka, He Uru Kānuka' 2024 Installation view ‘The 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ Courtesy: The artists, Radio Ngāti Porou and Te Amokura Productions This project was assisted by Radio Ngāti Porou, Te Amokura Productions, Australia’s Mānuka, Just Thinking Out Loud, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongerewa, Ngā Pae o Maramatanga (New Zealand’s Māori Centre of Research Excellence), Creative New Zealand, Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau / AUT University, Waipapa Taumata Rau / University of Auckland, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, Raukūmara Pae Maunga and The students of Ngata Memorial College.