Kiko Moana, 2017
Kiko Moana is made from blue tarpaulin, layered and sewn together, then cut into and arranged into a repeating pattern. We wanted the texture of the work to allude to both the rippling surface water and to taniwha, who are known to reside out of sight just under the surface. Taniwha are often attributed with the qualities of protection, travel and communication. It was important that these attributes were imbued within Kiko Moana, given that this work was our first international invitation.
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During the research and development of this work, we documented ‘tarps in the wild’ on our Instagram account. This documentation expressed the ubiquitous nature of this material within our communities and the indigenous ingenuity that comes with the varied application of tarps. We gathered taniwha narratives from friends and whānau which are housed on the website www.taniwhatales.com. These accounts helped us carry our work, which is grounded in mātauranga Māori, overseas to foreign exhibitions. We also sat in wānanga with pūkenga Dr. Maureen Lander and Dr. Patricia Te Arapō Wallace to learn about Māori sewing techniques and consider customary knowledge to support our contemporary journey.
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5m x 11m
Tarpaulin, cotton, eyelets
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Commissioned for documenta 14 in Kassel Germany, curated by Hendrik Folkerts and generously supported by Creative New Zealand.
Kiko Moana, the Taniwha Tales website, and our Instagram documentation of tarps in the wild were collected by curator Matariki Williams for Te Papa Tongarewa in 2018.
Image credits: courtesy of the artists, Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (2019), and the London Royal Academy of Art (2018)