'POSSESSION'
An exhibition of 12 screenprints at ArtsPost 27th September to 28th October... Artist’s Event Thursday 3rd October at 5.30pm
1769 October Sunday 8th: 'About four o'clock in the afternoon, we anchored on the north west side of the bay.'
(Extract from Cooks Diary.)
These prints are based on Te Kuri o Paoa*, known to New Zealanders as Young Nicks Head an iconic headland important to Maori and Pakeha.
Many countries have iconic landmarks like the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty. In Aotearoa this headland is significant to Maori and Pakeha as the important point of first encounter between two cultures. It was here as well that two models of land 'possession' clashed. The existing model of occupation/guardianship was based on care of the living land and its resources to be passed on to future generations. Colonisation introduced the individual/corporate model where resources were exploited, trees cut and minerals mined for profit.
In the 1860’s 1.25 million acres of Ngai Tamanuhiri land was confiscated by the crown and sold to settlers. In 2002 Te Kuri came up for sale and Ngai Tamanuhiri made a bid for their land but an absentee United States citizen also negotiated to buy the headland. Members of Ngai Tamanuhiri occupied the Pa site in protest and marched on Parliament but the sale to the American went ahead with New Zealand Government approval.
Today these two models of possession have a wider constituency, but the clash continues over the sale of state assets, oil and gas exploitation on the East Coast, deep sea oil drilling in Cook Strait, gold mining on Coromandel and the far north, and open-cast coal mining on the Denniston plateau. The struggle is still between kaitiakitanga /guardianship and exploitation.
In preparation for this work I first approached the headland from the sea, a route familiar to Maori and Cook. I spent some time drawing and living at Muriwai Beach at the base of the headland. My research involved reading and listening to locals tell stories how for generations they had camped each Christmas at Murphy’s Beach an activity that is no longer permitted under present ownership. I climbed the headland before dawn to the old Pa site Te Rangihoua the view was awe inspiring but I also felt a great sense of loss - this place no longer belongs to New Zealanders.
Recently the Waitangi Tribunal Treaty Settlement returned 200 acres of land to Ngai Tamanuhiri plus the cliff face of Te Kuri as a National Reserve. On the back of a Gisborne bus is a large bill board showing a view of Young Nicks Head with the motto 'Our Place' - but it's no longer our place - just the cliffs.
An Artist’s event is planned for Thursday 3rd October at 5.30 pm. I am very pleased to announce that Warren Pohatu an illustrator and designer originally from Muriwai in Gisborne will open the exhibition.
Jean E Loomis
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