Tuakirikiri, 2023
Earthly water does not go without rocks. The rivers flow along pathways of rock, the power of water transforms boulders, to smooth stones, to pebbles, to silt.
He ope ā Hine-Tuakirikiri e kore taea te tatau
A group from Hine-Tuakirikiri that cannot be counted
These words conjure a timeless solidarity, interconnectedness, power in numbers, and draw strength from ancient ties.
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Tiedowns are used in our communities like they are in many places around the world; a tool of security, to help carry heavy loads, to be tied and woven around moving cargo.
The orange is a reference to the iron-rich Parawhenuamea, the Māori embodiment of fresh water. Her body shifts and changes colour from the mountains to the sea, she carries ancient life in the form of orange bio-genic iron that gets filtered into soils, plants, and us.This particular hi-vis orange is one of safety and is an acknowledgment of the people who work with these materials every day. Highlighting the often invisible, the orange moves through the grey of Tuakiriri, the strength of tension relying on one another to create an environment.
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8m x 8m x 4m
Tubular slackline webbing, cam buckles, s-hooks
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Created for soft and weak like water, the 14th Gwangju Biennale, South Korea.
Curated by Kerryn Greenberg with generous support from Creative New Zealand.
Image credit: Glimworkers for the Gwangju Biennale.
14th Gwangju Biennale Artist Interview
The Asian Art Institutum is a non-profit, privately owned Singaporean institution focussed on expanding the horizons for Singapore art by developing relationships with the global contemporary art community through international projects that respond also to the local and South East Asian context.
This video produced for The Asian Art Institutitum in the lead-up to the Gwangju Biennale by Rachel Anson.
©더 인스티튜텀 ©The Institutum