Pōhutukawa

Nā koutou kua wheturangitia ki te korowai o Ranginui, haere haere harare atu rā.

A sculpture resting on the whenua. Activated periodically by filling with memories which are held for a moment in time before being released to the night sky.

An acknowledgement to those who have passed.

Co-Directors: Bianca Hyslop & Rowan Pierce:

Bianca Hyslop (Te Arawa, Ngāti Whakaue, Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao) and artist Rowan Pierce (Pākeha) are practitioners at the forefront of their respective fields of contemporary dance and performance design. Together the pair create work that pushes beyond any one form of performing arts practice creating immersive performance experiences that utilise various forms of storytelling including image, movement, sound, spatial/object design and beyond. This results in a universal performative language that defies genres and opens up live performance experience to new and broader audiences.


Collaborators: Tūī Matira Ranapiri-Ransfield (Ngāti Ohomairangi), Louisa Donnell (Ngāti Raukawa ki te tonga, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Huia, Ngā Pare) Pania Barrett (Te Āti Awa ki Whakarongotai, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Toa Rangatira)


Memories:


Kiriata tuatahi: ‘Ngā ringa kuia mau ringa moko’
Co-directors: Bianca Hyslop & Rowan Pierce in collaboration with Tūī Matira Ranapiri Ransfield
A kuia’s hand slowly reaches out from the darkness and moves in slow motion across the screen reaching for the hand of her moko. They find each other and take grip, the kuia starts to wiri, the vibration shared with her moko. The video ends with the hands being torn away from each other.


Kiriata tuarua: ‘Te Ara Wairua’
Director: Bianca Hyslop
A movement offering. Utilising the feathers of manu to carve space and to clear the path for our loved ones to fly free. Kia whakawātea te huarahi kia rere noa ai i ō tātou tini mate i runga i te aroha.


Kiriata tuatara: ‘Taku Hei Raureka’
Director: Louisa Donnell
This piece is an expression of my pain and anguish as I had to leave my grangran to die in hospital. The covid restrictions in the respiratory ward were such that they only allowed one loved one to be present at certain times. Taku hei piripiri, taku hei mokemoke, taku hei raureka are the words I chose because she is my sweet smelling adornment, and all I wanted was to hold her close to my heart.

Kiriata tuawhā: ‘Finding my horizon’
Director: Pania Barrett
An acknowledgement of the 2 states of being, my crisp and clear logic and my misty, swirling emotions. Following the passing of my parents, I was plunged into a world where death made no sense, a place where everything seemed to feel unjust. Then came the slow return of my rationale, to find that place of acceptance.