[ISEA2011] Artists Statement: Lisa Reihana & James Pinker – Whanaunga

Artists Statement

Whanaunga (family) features the Maori demigod Maui, he is the Trickster and Shapeshifter figure in Maori cosmology. Maui was believed to be still-born, and is cast into the ocean in his mother Taranga’s topknot of hair.

  • Lisa Reihana is a Maori artist who has played a leading role in the development of film and multimedia art in Aotearoa New Zealand. Her works communicate complex ideas about indigenous identity and bi-cultural living, and are drawn from eclectic sources, including Maori mythology and contemporary culture. Reihana reinterprets important oral histories and customary  lore, making them available to a collective Aotearoa New Zealand consciousness through their contemporary presentation.
  • James Pinker has worked for many years within the visual art world primarily as a sound artist but also as a photographer and videographer. Pinker is the Visual Arts Manager of Mangere Arts Centre Nga Tohuo Uenuku which presents the work of Maori and Pacific artists. He is a member of Holiwater, a collaboration with Indian musical maestros Vikash and Prabash Maharaj from Varanasi, India, and Tom Bailey, UK.

Full text and images (PDF) p.  206-207