11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

NOTES 1 Paemanu, ‘Awa ki te Awa’ proposal for the 11th Asia Pacific Triennial, 2023, QAGOMA Curatorial Artist File. 2 Paemanu, ‘Awa ki te Awa’ proposal. 3 Matt Philp, ‘Te Karaka expecting to fly’, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu , 5 April 2015, <ngaitahu.iwi.nz/opportunities- and-resources/publications/ te-karaka/expecting-to-fly/>, viewed May 2024. 4 Paemanu, ‘Awa ki te Awa’ proposal. 5 The Kaihaukai Collective and Three Little Birds collaborated with Aunty Dale Chapman from My Little Dilly Bag for the 10th Triennial project Kauporo o Haumumu . 6 Joe Waaka, ‘Aoraki ancestral mountain’ [from the Mackenzie District Plan 1999 ], Arowhenua , 6 April 2016, <arowhenua.org/ blog/aoraki>, viewed May 2024. Served straight from the fire, along with steamed yugari (cockles), mixed leaves, and lemon myrtle and rainforest plum cordial, this banquet brought together a group of First Nations Australian and Pacific community members to share stories of traditional food on the banks of the Maiwar. Accompanying this documentation is video footage of a parallel event in Ōtepoti (Dunedin) that shows whānau (families) collecting kelp, kuku (green-lipped mussels), root vegetables and stored tītī (muttonbird), and steaming and boiling their own feast of soul food. 5 The spirit of generosity and care emanating from these events informs the exchanges of the 11th Asia Pacific Triennial, as the Kaihaukai Collective and Three Little Birds come together in Brisbane for the latest iteration of the exhibition. Paemanu’s hīkoi (journey) along the Waitaki to the source of the river at the foothills of the Aoraki mauka (mountain) provided the foundation for Hīkoi , the poetic two-channel video representing the group’s final project for this Triennial. Like Tīrewa, this work, compiled from the collective records of Paemanu, emerges from the recognition that mahika kai (food and resource gathering) is an intrinsic part of Ngāi Tahu identity. Shifting the focus from food, Hīkoi recognises the significance of the journey often required in the acts of hunting and gathering. The dramatic landscapes of Kā Tiritiri-o-te- moana (the southern alps) of Te Waipounamu, where the 12 000-foot-high, sacred Aoraki pokes its snow-capped peak through the clouds, play an important role in these moving-image works by reflecting the significance of the environment to the Ngāi Tahu people. In the footage, mellow, resonant sounds of taoka puoro (Māori musical instruments) amplify the presence and importance of Aoraki and the Waitaki as the Paemanu group undertakes their hīkoi (journey). Juxtaposed with smatterings of kōrerorero (conversations) and recordings of the sound of stones — taken from the base of Aoraki — being rubbed and clicked together, this evocative soundscape provides a clipped pace for the film’s imagery, connecting the viewer to experiences beyond what is visible. In this way, the Paemanu: Awa Toi project presents the journey of these artists on a spatial plane, as well as a temporal one alongside their ancestors. It is the ancestors’ wisdom that guides the journey, as this Ngāi Tahu proverb states: Kia tuohu koe me he mauka teitei, ko Aoraki anake — If you must bow your head, then let it be to a lofty mountain, Aoraki. 6 RUTHMcDOUGALL Members of Paemanu Ngāi Tahu Contemporary Visual Arts collective creating prints for Tīrewa 2024 / Photograph: Kitty Brown Ana Whakairo (installation view, ‘Paemanu: Nohoaka Toi’, Toi Moroki Centre of Contemporary Art, 2017) / Image courtesy: The artists ARTISTS+PROJECTS ASIAPACIFICTRIENNIAL 168 — 169