Taranaki Heitiki White Mussel Shell Eyes, Okains Bay Maori and...
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Fiona Pardington
b.1961
Kāi Tahu, Māori
Kāti Māmoe, Māori
Ngāti Kahungunu, Māori
Title
Taranaki Heitiki White Mussel Shell Eyes, Okains Bay Maori and Colonial Museum
Details
| Production Date | 2002 |
|---|---|
| Collection(s) | Collection Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth |
| Accession Number | 2008/10 |
| Edition | 5 of 5 |
| Media | Toned silver bromide fibre based print wooden frame Tru-view glass |
| Measurements | Support: 550 x 420mm; Framed: 920 x 775 x 25mm |
About
He whakapapa tō tēnei whakakai heitiki pounamu, pērā i ngā taonga tūturu katoa, hei tūhono i ngā tūpuna ki hō rātou uri i hēnei rā. Ko te ū o ngā karu o te heitiki, e whakararu ana i te kawatau o te māhakitanga i te tūtakitanga. Mā te whakamahi i te tukanga kapo ā-ringa, arā, ko te noho mārakerake, ko ngā inenga māwhete rama me te tānga ringa, ka whakanuia e Pardinton te ora o te mauri i tēnei heitiki, ā, ka mahana tonu, ka tiakina mā te pā ā-tinana.
Ko te ingoa o tēnei kaponga hei whakahuahua i te reo whakarārangi taonga o ngā whare pupuru tāonga, kāore e tino whakamārama ana i ngā mōhiohio e pā ana ki te mana o ngā taonga; kāore i te mōhio ko wai te kaihanga, te tangata i mau, te tikanga i rokohina ai rānei te heitiki nei ki tōna kāinga ināianei. I toro a Pardington ki ngā kohikohinga i ngā whare taonga, i roto ngā ngahuru tau kua hori, ki te rangahau i te kaha o ngā kaponga whakaahua ki te wetewete i ngā taonga ahurea mai i ngā pūnaha whakarite, whakapuranga, whakaatu hoki, o ngā whare pupuru taonga.
—
This pounamu heitiki neck ornament, like all taonga tūturu, has a whakapapa that connects tūpuna with their descendants today. The unmoving gaze of the heitiki subverts expectations of a passive encounter with a lifeless object. Through the sensitive use of analogue photographic processes that include long exposure, measured light bursts and hand printing, Pardington acknowledges this heitiki as living being whose mauri (life-force) is kept warm and cared for through bodily contact.
The title of this photograph mimics the cataloguing language of museums that often fail to provide information about the provenance of precious taonga; neither their maker, wearers nor how this heitiki came to their present location. Pardington’s research of museum collections in recent decades has explored the power of photography to liberate cultural objects from their museological systems of organisation, storage and display.
— Text developed for Te Hau Whakatonu: A Series of Never-ending Beginnings (5 August 2023–11 February 2024), curated by Taarati Taiaroa
