Proof of Concept: HANDSHAKE8 As part of a group show, 2023.
Exhibited at Depot Artspace, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aoteaora New Zealand.
Kauri and Tohorā: Indigenous Healing for Anthropocene Grief. (2019-2021)
Exhibited at:
Otago Polytechnic Dunedin School of Art, Ngāi Tahu land: Ōtepoti Dunedin and;
Studio One Toi Tū, Ngāti Whātua-o-Ōrākei land: Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
Kura kura e
Ka hiihirihiri ōa
Tāmaua kia oti
Tāmaua kia iita
Tāmaua kia ea
Kua ea kua ea
Kua ea whakapiri
Tae ngarohue
Whakapoua kia tāhina tou pito
Kururangi toi mai
He whatu manuao
He kare manuriki
He mea mahurangi e
Hui e, Hui e, Hui ee i
Kia ora koutou katoa! Ko Jack Wolf toku ingoa.
My name is Tui Diprose. I come from Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, and I am of New Zealand European descent. This work was created across Te Kawerau a Maki land and Te Wai-o-Hua land. Kauri and Tohorā: Indigenous Healing for Anthropocene Grief explores themes of place-specific grief, death, holistic impact of the anthropocene, Indigenous wisdom and ritual.
During 2019 I studied Rongoā Māori healing methodologies and mātauranga under the guidance of Emaraina Mihaere and Potikai Schaumelle who I give my respect to for the transmission of their mātauranga.
1. Tohorā gifts his scales to Kauri
Reclaimed Kauri Floorboard, Onemata (dark, fertile soil), Kawakawa Panipani, Harakeke, Spraypaint.
Long, long ago, Kauri and Tohorā, the tree and the whale, were brothers who once walked together on land. Tohorā was hunted and yearned to be free. He found refuge in the oceanic home of Tangaroa, god of the sea, meanwhile Kauri rooted himself deep into the land, home of Tāne Mahuta, god of the forest. In an act of love, Tohorā gifted Kauri his scales, which Kauri now wears proudly as his bark. He told Kauri if he ever needed his help, he would come to his aid.
2. Separation Leads to Death
Seaweed, Harakeke, Tānekaha, Onemata (dark, fertile soil), Spraypaint.
It is 2020 and the Kauri tree, already heavily impacted by colonisation, is now at threat of extinction due to the fungus Phytophthora agathadicida attacking the roots and shooting up the heart of the tree. There is no scientific cure.
3. Death Ritual
Paua, Kauri Gum, Salt, Keretū (clay), Onemata (dark, fertile soil), Lichen, Kauri leaves, Harakeke, Spraypaint.
Indigenous Mātauranga Māori provides credible hope and healing through the ancestral whakapapa between Kauri and Tohorā. Contemporary practitioners have applied whale oil to diseased kauri trees, achieving groundbreaking successful results.
4. Calling to the Sea
Melted Kauri Gum, Harakeke, Tānekaha, Oxidised Silver.
The Anthropocene is a term coined by biologist Eugene Stormer and Chemist Paul Critzen in 2000, referring to the current geological epoch where humans, as the dominant life-form on the planet, have caused modern climate crisis. When I began this project, the future of the earth appeared hopeless. Suicide statistics continue to rise amidst ecological disaster, which when viewed holistically shares a correlation.
5. Whale Stranding at Farewell Spit
Seaweed, Kauri, Harakeke, Tānekaha, Kawakawa panipani, Ink, Spraypaint.
The Earth as teacher, medicine and spiritual-being has its foundations in indigenous cultures including Māori, Aboriginal Australian and First Nations. Indigenous wisdom says that all beings are interconnected with the earth. We are not separate but are in kinship with, and extensions of, the land. Within Aotearoa’s indigenous healing methodologies, called Rongoā Māori, the Kauri tree is the heart of the forest. The heart of all beings, both land and human, are entrenched in anthropocene grief.
6. Kotahi - Healing Through Oneness
Tohorā (Whalebone), Recycled Kauri Debris, Harakeke, Tānekaha, Kawakawa panipani.
The work before you is a collaborative exploration and co-creation between human and land, for the purpose of collective grief healing, aided by foundational principles of indigenous world views. Kotahi - Healing through Oneness is carefully composed of 108 objects of taonga Kauri, Whalebone and Harakeke. This number is seen in spiritual practices worldwide, represented in this work as physical prayers and healing for the Anthropocene.
Professor Mānuka Hēnare says,
“In the Māori mind there is an ongoing connection between the health of Earth Mother and the well-being of humans in communities… for generations it has been considered that psychological and social illnesses can be attributed to the mistakes and evils of the past associated with the loss of land and the abuse of Earth Mother.”
It is impossible to extricate environmental art from indigenous culture.
Healing is a found through remembering our innate onness; the interconnectedness between all things.
Kia tau ngā manaakitanga a te mea ngaro
ki runga ki tēnā, ki tēnā o tātou
Kia mahea te hua mākihikihi
kia toi te kupu, toi te mana, toi te aroha, toi te Reo Māori
kia tūturu, ka whakamaua kia tīna! Tīna!
Hui e, Tāiki e!