Rematriation

Me aro koe ki te hā o Hine-ahu-one

Take heed the breath of Hine-ahu-one

Curated by Tanya Te Miringa Te Rorarangi Ruka (Ngā Puhi, Ngati Pakau and Waitaha), this screening programme delves into the profound theme of Indigenous rematriation, a concept which proposes restoration of balance, harmony, and connection to the land through a whakapapa of wahine knowledge.

Rematriation includes work by the following contemporary Māori artists:

• Tia Barrett (Waitaha, Ngāti Māmoe, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Tamainupō, Ngāti Maniapoto)
• Bobby Luke (Ngāti Ruanui)
• Tanya Te Miringa Te Rorarangi Ruka (Ngati Pakau, Ngapuhi)
• Sandy Wakefield (Ngapuhi, Ngāi Tahu)
• Keri-Mei Zagrobelna (Whānau-ā- Apanui and Te Āti Awa)

Each work visualises the intrinsic, ethereal, and ineffable narratives woven throughout Te Ao Māori.

For viewers, Rematriation seeks to foster a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by Indigenous communities, whilst affirming ongoing efforts to restore and preserve Indigenous cultural identities on a spiritual level.

Facing the many contemporary political, historical, and environmental issues in Aotearoa and the world today, the five films in Rematriation continue conversations about decolonisation, cultural continuity, and the shared responsibility of nurturing a more inclusive and equitable world. Together they celebrate the transformative power of Rematriation as a celebration of identity, resilience, and the enduring connection between people and the land they call home.

Tanya Te Miringa Te Rorarangi Ruka is CIRCUIT’s Kaitiaki Kiriata for 2024, a new curatorial position which supports a Māori curator to present artists video in contexts framed by Te Ao Māori.

Rematriation was originally commissioned by CIRCUIT for the Wairoa Māori Film Festival 2024.  CIRCUIT thanks Wairoa and Leo Koziol for their support.

Bobby Luke (Ngāti Ruanui), Kōrero o taku Māmā (2023)
"A Memory, a moment, and an archive. This work traverses a conversation between my mum Alison Luke talking about her upbringing at Taiporohēnui Pā and what the most important learnings she fostered as a child, to now as she passes this knowledge to her children. This work was filmed using super 8 film to curate an untouched memory, a first thought, capturing a girl with her child, creating a vignette of nurturing embrace. This moving image is about a mother’s love for her children and her Pā. Recently a part of the Campbell Luke show at New Zealand Fashion week 2023 titled, 'He Oranga Ngākau' which was a visual dialog of a mother's nurture as an indigenous form of trauma healing." —Bobby Luke

Tia Barrett (Waitaha, Ngāti Māmoe, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Tamainupō, Ngāti Maniapoto), He Pounamu Ko Āu (I am Pounamu) (2023)
A kaupapa Māori experimental short film that explores wahine Māori identity. The film unfolds through moving image, pounamu pūrākau (storytelling), mōteatea (sung Māori poetry), and ambient sound. Created for healing and artistically expressing a story of overcoming the adversity of colonisation and the reconnection to indigenous woman's identity. Drawing on maternal whakapapa (genealogy) to celebrate intergenerational wāhine talent.

Keri-Mei Zagrobelna (Whānau-ā- Apanui and Te Āti Awa), Te Pito (2023)
In Te Pito, the movements of dancer Jahra Wasasala Ragar signal the umbilical cord connecting us to our surroundings and whenua. As a descendant of Te Āti-Awa that holds links to the Whakatū region, the artist hopes Te Pito will act as a guide, facilitator, and creative portal for others seeking to reclaim identity and reconnections to whakapapa.

Sandy Wakefield (Ngāpuhi, Ngai Tahu), Nakunaku (2020)
Tuia ki te rangi
Tuia ki te whenua
Tuia ki te moana
Tuia te here tangata
E rongo te pō, e rongo te ao.

Through a series of visits to remote areas of Rakiura (Stewart Island),  Nakunaku acknowledges the impact of colonisation on generations of her tupuna. Stripped of their culture, their whenua, marae, mana, and reo, the connection to whakapapa became broken up and disjointed. For the artist, to stand in the places of her tupuna acts as a form of reclamation. This journey is told by Rakiura women through a cinematic sound design that externalises their 'unseen' presence, weaving and guiding the audience through the deeply personal experiences these women share about their upbringings, and how they live with those histories on Rakiura today. Wakefield's research into local pūrākau, whakapapa, colonial histories, Rakiura history, mahinga kai areas and seasons, specific birds and their uses by Rakiura Māori is heard in the film's soundscape. The whakatauki "Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua" is a strong influence for the artist,and guides her utilisation of traditional mātauranga and tikanga in the making of this work.

Tanya Te Miringa Te Rorarangi Ruka (Ngati Pakau, Ngapuhi), Aue te Manuhiri (2023)
"A short film documenting a karakia that was gifted to my mother Jane Mihingarangi in the ngahere. The karakia is speaking to the Myrtle Rust funghi that is devastating our Myrtle varieties and threatening extinction. The karakia welcomes Myrtle Rust as a manuhiri and provides the funghi with a solution to return to the home and warmth of Papatuanuku. The karakia is spoken with aroha and gratitude for teaching humanity a serious lesson about the need to change and the environmental devastation brought upon itself. Toi Taiao Whakatairanga is a cross-disciplinary research project, bringing together arts, science, and Te Ao Māori to raise awareness of threats to the health of our ngahere." 

Tanya is CIRCUIT’s inaugural Kaitiaki Kiriata, an annual role that supports a Māori curator to develop moving image projects which speak through the lens of Te Ao Māori. Tanya is also an artist working across video and installation. The focus of Tanya's research practice is the development of possible net positive futures from an indigenous perspective.