The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT10) Catalogue

Artists The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art 158 (left) Korokoro (detail) 2020 Pigment inks on Hahnamuhle Photorag Ultra smooth / 92 x 488cm overall (right) Maikuku (detail) 2020 Pigment inks on Hahnamuhle Photorag Ultra smooth / 92 x 239cm overall Images courtesy: The artists Shannon Te Ao works predominantly with performance and single- and multi-channel video, and his installations poetically explore the intersections of indigeneity, language and loss — a subject reflective of the artist’s own experience of coming to te reo (Māori language) and cultural knowledge as an adult. For the script of each work, Te Ao draws on a range of literary materials, including Māori whakatauki (proverbs) and waiata (song), as well as poetic and lyrical texts from popular culture. His most recent work is based on original songs developed in collaboration with a number of Māori translators. Performed in te reo , these songs are paired with evocative filmic sequences that trace moments of transition and transformation, particularly of the body and its boundaries. Ruth McDougall Ia rā, ia rā (rere runga, rere raro) Every day (I fly high, I fly low) Throughout Aotearoa, the common fantail has many names. Tīwakawaka is one among a list of regional and tribal variations that reaches into the teens. This small, agile bird is commonly found within an array of environmental conditions. Known as a territorial, agile and erratic flyer, Tīwakawaka can be plucky to the point of fearless. Māori histories tie Tīwakawaka to narratives surrounding Tāne-mahuta (god of the forest) and demigod Māui; in fact, the small bird is pivotal to the story of Māui’s death and, as such, is often connected to narratives of mortality. It is not uncommon for Tīwakawaka to be cited as messenger of ensuing life events — even as a harbinger of death. The imagery within the work Ia rā, ia rā (rere runga, rere raro) Everyday (I fly high, I fly low) 2021 grew in response to a simple song that points to Tīwakawaka’s multifarious reach. This presence is connected through the environment, other living things, history, life, death — both the tangible and intangible. As in all my recent work, song acts simultaneously as script and score. Language and its embodiment connect us to aspects of our experience that extend beyond what is merely visible. Time, experience and the spiritual exist along a continuum where past, present and future coexist. Within a Māori worldview this sentiment is a guiding principle: ka mua, ka muri — we walk backwards into the future. As humans, our collective potential hinges upon our imagination: we must acknowledge the forces in our lives that exist beyond what is visible or pragmatic. This sensibility summons what is most distinctive in the human condition — it nourishes our collective empathetic potential. In the current moment, extremities within our social schema feel simultaneously stretched and restricted. Within Aotearoa and further afield, the issues that impact our daily lives are experienced under the cloudy impact of a global health warning. Not only are our bodies exposed, but our minds are also squeezed. We can hardly move in a world that is so difficult to comprehend. Political ripples, for example, are not only felt simultaneously but also seem conflated. Ideas and movements that were once more easily contained and maintained at a distance are irreversibly entangled. Political thought is no longer set along poles, as these have collapsed completely. We are now required to think beyond the limited frameworks of past generations. Suddenly, fundamental dimensions of life are being repurposed and rewritten. I observe emerging movements to revitalise our responsibility to resist the perceived bind of economic structures and engage with the natural and spiritual world. Out of necessary respite under pandemic-led restrictions, many have reached a moment of recalibration. In the song at the core of Ia rā, ia rā , Tīwakawaka declares: I am small but I have taunted Atua. Dancing between light and dark. I am restless between life and death. I want to be that bird. Shannon Te Ao Shannon Te Ao Ngāti Tūwharetoa Born 1978, Sydney, Australia Lives and works in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand Michael Bridgman Born 1976, Aotearoa New Zealand Lives and works in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand Kurt Komene Te Āti Awa, Taranaki Whānui Born 1986, Aotearoa New Zealand Lives and works in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand Ia rā, ia rā (rere runga, rere raro) Everyday (I fly high, I fly low) (production still) 2021 Three-channel HD video: sound, 4:3, ed.1 of 3 / Courtesy: The artists with support from Creative New Zealand: Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa and Whiti o Rehua School of Art, Massey University