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

The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art 92 Projects Māori scholars 8 supported the safe handling of cultural material, and archaeologists Atholl Anderson and Rachel Wesley evolved the interpretation and curation of the taoka ( taonga or treasures) that emerged during this work. The archaeologically recovered material comprised midden and other samples of thousands of fragments of kai (food), matika and matapatete (fishhooks and bone fishhook points), weaving and clothing fragments from settlers, among other items — aspects of a life force that exists in relationship with whenua . While an aim of the project has been to share elements of interest or significance as they emerge from their boxes, privacy has also been maintained in respect of tapu — the sacred nature of objects and place. The project has enabled the development of ways to address the damaging legacy to Māori of the collection of their land and its contents, and the legacy of institutional storage methods, while recognising the opportunity these salvaged taoka provide for new engagement. Of the community outreach, artist and advisor Vicki Lenihan shares: Winnie and Alan Solomon visited, especially to see the large piece of whatu . We heard lots about similar kinds of materials (sacks) seen during their childhoods, coastal plants and logging days, and the Old Folk giving nosy writers bum steers when enquiries about our ways got too close to knowledge that has to be earned. 9 APT10 has facilitated further inventorying of the uncatalogued midden collections at SMAG, OM and the University of Otago’s archaeological department. New aspects of the project include wānanga (collective discussion) taking place simultaneously between Kāi Tahu whānui in Aotearoa and those of the iwi living in proximity to the Maiwar (Brisbane River) to activate links with the collection, as well as discussions on indigenous-led management of cultural material in collecting institutions. Kaihaukai Art Collective (comprising Simon Kaan and Ron Bull Jr) continue to respond to the midden material displaced by the excavations with kaihaukai , or the sharing and exchanging of traditional foods (an important customary practice for Māori in Aotearoa), sharing knowledge and continuing cultural practices around traditional foods — practices which are at risk of disappearing. Alex Monteith, Ron Bull Jr, Simon Kaan, Vicki Lenihan and Gerard O’Regan Kā Paroro o Haumumu: Coastal Flows / Coastal Incursions In Light of Time (installation view, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 2019) / Image courtesy: Alex Monteith and the Dunedin Public Art Gallery Ron Bull Jr and Simon Kaan during the Kaihuakai Art Collective event in conjunction with the Mihi Whakatau for the Murihiku people and taoka involved in Kā Paroro o Haumumu: Coastal Flows / Coastal Incursions 2019 / Image courtesy: Kaihaukai Art Collective and Dunedin Public Art Gallery Photographs: Iain Frengley Endnotes 1 Atholl Anderson, ‘Notes for Alex’, in Alex Monteith et al., Coastal Flows / Coastal Incursions [exhibition catalogue], ST PAUL St Gallery, Auckland University of Technology, 2017. 2 Peter John Frazer Coutts removed earth from 7 rock-shelters, 14 caves and more than 20 open sites towards his unpublished PhD thesis, ‘The emergence of the Foveaux Strait Māori from prehistory: A study of culture contact’, University of Otago, Dunedin, 1972. 3 Approximately 360 boxes were deposited at SMAG, and a pallet of material was held at OM. 4 Gerard O’Regan, ‘Repacking the past’, in Alex Monteith et al. 5 Alex Monteith, Kā Paroro o Haumumu: Coastal Flows / Coastal Incursions In Light of Time 2014–21, four-channel video installation. 6 The project emerged through oral history with conservationist and former member of the New Zealand Forest Service, Richard Anderson, about conservation work in Te Mimi o Tū Te Rakiwhānoa in the 1960s, which included his recollections of Peter Coutts’s research process there. 7 The He Mea Whakamātā — Repacking the Past phases of work have resulted in the inventorying of approximately 3180 elements from the excavations: Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 1 June ‒ 30 September 2019, 78 boxes/636 bags from Otago Museum and 28 boxes/726 bags from Southland Museum Niho o Te Taniwha (total inventory 1362); ST PAUL St Gallery, 22 September ‒ 13 October 2017, 20 boxes/275 bags; and SMAG, February‒April 2016, 128 boxes/1543 bags. 8 Including Atholl Anderson, Vicki Lenihan, Gerard O’Regan, Baylee Smith, Koreana Wesley-Evans and Rachel Wesley. Please see Project Support (p.233) for further details of this work. 9 Vicki Lenihan, ‘ Whenua ki te whenua : It’s not dirt, it’s my ancestors’, in Monteith et al.