TAURA residency 〉〉〉〉〉〉〉2024
Taura presents an opportunity for two artists who have been working intensively with tī kōuka to cross over again like strands of rope and spend time in wānanga, both with each other and with a wider community of makers.
Konia’s work is often the result of careful study, citing historical forms, whakataukī (proverbs), and knowledge held by community members. Brook’s new piece Kanoi is based on the kupenga netting weave at the rear of the waka hourua Te Aorere, reconstructed using traditional lashing techniques and the knots his dad uses to tie loads onto trailers. Motion and whakapapa are remembered in the twist of the rope – a whirling spiral of DNA that lashes distinct materials together and journeys from place to place.
Zalk-Neale’s mahi also utilises tī kōuka as a joining medium, bringing their own body into relationship with other bodies and environments, often in the context of performance and wānanga. Their mahi draws on tī kōuka rope’s resilience in salt water and its visual likeness to features of human and aquatic bodies to explore concepts of fluidity and whakapapa. Zalk-Neale’s woven and twisted adornments reference fins, fishing lines and spines as well as salty hair and umbilical cords with many latching ends. The DNA spiral coils and branches.
The residency at soft shell will be Zalk-Neale and Konia’s first chance to reconnect, consider the overlaps in their distinct practices, generate new work, and share what they’ve learned from their mutual collaborator tī koūka in two years of rangahau (research). Additional events will bring visitors and other artists into the Taura project. Warming the space, visiting the new works, contributing to a collaborative taura workbook, and making rope together at soft shell are responsibilities that can be shared by an extended creative community. Together we gain strength.
Brook Konia (Ngāti Porou, Kōtimana, Pākehā)
Louie Zalk-Neale (Ngāi Te Rangi, Pākehā)
Curator:
Jordan Davey-Emms (Pākehā)
Link: soft shell: Taura