Pouwātū: Active Presence

"He kitenga kanohi, he hokinga whakaaro. To see a face is to stir a memory.

Pouwātū symbolises what this exhibition intends to embody: a statement of active presence. The active presence of John’s photographic practice over five decades, dynamic and a view from within; the active presence of a wharenui, a vessel, an ancestor, an archive of a place, a library, a place to meet, sleep, kōrerorero (dialogue), the face of a collective history and of an aspirational future; the active presence people, Māori and tangata Tiriti (non-Māori, constituent communities in Aotearoa, whose citizenship is made possible by way of Te Tiriti o Waitangi)." Elisapeta Heta

Photographer John Miller (Ngāpuhi), has been active since the late 1960s, well-known particularly for his vast documentation of protest movements in New Zealand. His extensive archive centres Maori people, culture and communities, often from an insider perspective, providing an invaluable counter-point to mainstream histories.

Architectural designer, Elisapeta Hinemoa Heta (Ngātiwai, Waikato Tainui) has worked in dialogue and in collaboration with Miller to produce this architectural emplacing, extending and unfolding of his work, ‘balancing the taha wairua (spiritual) with the taha tinana (physical) understanding of space.’ Their work together traverses many times, places, and movements, holding sovereignty as a central thematic accross the display.