Ko te Whiri
Ko te whatu
Abigail Aroha Jensen presents us with a new work R0PE PL4Y.
Please join us to mark the opening.
R0PE PL4Y is an instrument by which whakapapa is created. A tool for learning. A driven life force. Mauri travels within the whiri and within the process. A turn to release, a turn to respite. Me aro koe ki te hā o Hine.
Many hands have been held by this harakeke.
Many hands will continue to touch it.
Harnessing found chimes, yet the harakeke found me, not a found object rather an intentional body to inspire play.
Binding space, binding body, without an audible cry, the whiri demands your attention.
Drawing you in to navigate and to respond. The piece plays you as much as you play it.
Nau mai ki te whakatangitangi
Opens: Wednesday 8 June, 5.30pm with performance by Abigail Aroha Jensen, Ruby Solly and Alastair Fraser and refreshments provided by Liberty Brewing Company
Hours: 12 – 4pm, Tuesday – Saturday
Closes: Saturday 9 July
Abigail Aroha Jensen (Ngāti Porou through Te Whānau-a-Tūwhakairiora and Te Whānau-a-Ruataupare; Ngāi Tāmanuhiri through Rangiwaho; Crow and Steele clan, County Antrim) is an interdisciplinary artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau.
Previous projects include: Whiri Whiri Muka tangata: Ngā haki o te tangata (2020) My Whare Bares Witness (2021) At RM gallery, Manawa i te Kāniwha (2021) in collaboration with George Watson for Artspace Aotearoa; as well as Pūtahitanga Kura, their second collaboration for The Lightship – A contemporary arts platform at Bledisloe wharf on the Ports of Tāmaki Makaurau.
Abigail has been expanding her practice with Ngā Taonga Pūoro. Diving into oro by weaving together taonga pūoro, textures and field recordings of her environment to reflect the ever changing te taiao. Abigail released a solo track Pū0r0 PL4Y V0L001: under moniker, M4URI M4STA followed by Pū0r0 PL4Y V0L002: Inside my papahou symphony No.2 as a continuation of her layered sound practice mixed for Blue Oyster Project Space.
Lamentation of Rautaupare shown in Papatūnga project space for the group show Te Pō, threaded oro with memory of tupuna, site and kōwhaiwhai to emanate whare whakairo when in a place of transit.
Her latest work – Inside my Papahou: Ngā āhuatanga o te kuku o te Tangata e te kēhua combines concrete cast sculpture with sound, challenging the limits of contemporary carving. The work was influenced by hikoi throughout lockdown. A moment in time which helped to align the artists thinking toward the relationship between mauri and the mundane. Through this, Abigail navigates the compounding effects of isolation, discovering ways to uplift wairua through oro, channels of matauranga, ritual and ways of being. This work was commissioned by Te Tuhi for the group show, Ata Koia! curated by James Tapsell-Kururangi.