Videos and installation, 2018

Kaiwaka (more commonly known as Back Bay) is an area situated near an historic Ngāti Hei pā site in Whitianga. Little is stated about the Māori history of the area. The caves in the cliff-face above the swamp are said to be old burial caves. Kaiwaka 13th May - 16th June consists of two videos, a pot, a bottle of water, and two bones. Two videos document the retrieval process and return of the swamp, filmed approximately a month apart. The only ‘product’ of this process are two bones. One section of cannon bone was buried in the swamp at Kaiwaka, and a second bone was stored in the pot of swamp mud which was taken to Kahurangiariki's studio in Tāmakimakaurau, Auckland. Particular types of swamp have dyeing qualities, known as paru. Throughout the month-long period, both bones were stored in the same material in a different location and with differing results of activation from these conditions. 

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A cyclical methodology has been implemented within Kaiwaka 13th May – 16th June, and the materials involved in the process are laid out before the viewer. This durational work is an exchange with whenua (land), a conversation between geographical locations, historic contexts, and preservation.