IndigiCollab Shot on iPhone 14 Pro Max.
I’ve always wanted to make work and collaborate with our incredible Indigenous cuzzies across the ditch. As Indigenous women working in the screen industry Shari Sebbens and I share a similar passion for Art and Creativity. The nimble and accessible nature of the iPhone enables us to create anything, anywhere with few limitations.
When the new building “The Modern Project” was about to open at the Art Gallery of NSW we saw this as a unique opportunity to pay homage to the incredible creativity housed in the building. The space is a visual, architecturally designed contemporary piece of art within and of itself. It is magnificent. We wanted to highlight the structure, texture and materials alongside the works that are enclosed within the space and that rest outside.
One of the most intriguing parts of the design is how history is literally embedded in the foundation of the structure. From the basement oil tanker room with ominous columns through to locally sourced sand stone walls on the ground floor levels, it gave us an opportunity to play with form and shape, to sit alongside the texture found within the artists works.
The curation of each part of the gallery is perfectly intentional, and to see the first gallery space as you walk in the doors honor Aboriginal art and artist’s, is aligned with what we value most. Our voice, our language and our perspective is first, we are the original caretakers of our lands our stories. Always was, always will be.
Alongside our dear friend Shereen O’Donnell who supported our Indigenous lens on every aspect of this piece and to the Gallery of NSW especially Miranda Carroll, Ngā mihi and thank you for your absolute support! To the artistic collaborators in sound and music Maree Sheehan, Mindy Kwanten, Mahina Kaui, Dyagula, Akala Newman, Jack Hickey, our friends at Roundhead Studio’s and 301 studio’s, The Editors crew - Lily Davis, Grace O’Connell, Liv Reddy and of course our wonderful producer Tara Riddell. It was all possible because this project allowed us as Indigenous women, with the collaboration of so many, to make a film from our creative vision to share with the world. It’s amazing what we can do when we are given the tools and support to do so.
ngā mihi maioha ki a koutou.
Toi Tū Toi Ora Exhibition Teaser. Shot on iPhone 12 Pro Max.
Honouring the Toi Tū Toi Ora exhibition was the perfect place to test out the capabilities of the iPhone 12 Pro Max especially given the way curator Nigel Borell chose to open the show, within the Māori creation narrative.
Honouring the Toi Tū Toi Ora exhibition was the perfect place to test out the capabilities of the iPhone 12 Pro Max especially given the way curator Nigel Borell chose to open the show, within the Māori creation narrative.
That narrative begins in Te Kore - the empty faceless void, where time is suspended in unrealised potential; what I love about unrealised potential is that everything is possible.
For me, inspiration for unrealised potential is what I believe new technology like the iPhone provides.
I was incredibly impressed with what the iPhone 12 Pro Max offered, given the Gallery spaces I chose to film in were low light. I wanted to make sure the texture in the works came through and the three different focal lengths offered that opportunity.
I will always champion women being in control of their own narrative. The intimacy, flexibility and scope of an iPhone allows me to do just that, picking it up at any moment and seamlessly transferring it to an editing system.
When expectations around technology can be a barrier to storytelling, here is an example of being able to tell your own story in an accessible way, without diminishing the quality of the end result.
For this piece I chose to collaborate with artists who also have works in the exhibition - Maree Sheehan composed the music and Taika Waititi provided the narration. I did that deliberately because the entire show is vast, it is the first time the gallery has ever put on a show this size and it happens to be a Māori exhibition; something that is incredibly exciting to me.
Taika and Maree’s works sit alongside over 100 other artists, so I hope this teaser will entice people to come and explore all of it.
#shotoniphone12promax
I am currently making a documentary feature film on the exhibition.
Toi Tū Toi Ora
Dec 2020 – May 2021
Auckland Art Gallery Toi ō Tāmaki
Curated by Nigel Borell
Documentary Feature In Production
Toi Tū Toi Ora
Visual Sovereignty
A Documentary Feature Film smashing the western art canon. Toi Tū Toi Ora follows the final year of preparation and first international showcase of this ground breaking survey of contemporary Māori art. Unprecedented in scale, this unique show unpacks seven decades of artistic assertion reframed by Māori curator, Nigel Borell. While the exhibition serves as a vehicle for change, the film challenges the current narrative by reimagining visual sovereignty from an indigenous perspective.
“Nothing about us
without us”
This Too Shall Pass is a platform for sharing stories. It was created out of a desire to harness years of working in the film and television industry and to combine it with my love for visual storytelling.
I am interested in stories that ensure indigenous narratives have agency from conception through to screen.
In Post Production
Image by Etienne Aurelius
Kapō
A young indigenous woman trapped in the throws of an abusive relationship gets revenge by burning her boyfriend’s home. Fearing retaliation she flees into the mountains of Kauai, Hawaii where she discovers a mythical creature that guides her back to her ancestral roots.
In Development
Image by Steven A’Court
The Appeal
The Appeal is the true story of Tiana Epati a Samoan lawyer, who defended Mac Kapene, a Māori forestry contractor in a case that challenged prejudice within the criminal justice system of Aotearoa New Zealand and changed their lives forever.
“Develop enough courage so you can stand up for yourself and then stand up for somebody else” — Maya Angelou