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Hukatai ~ Sea Foam

Denise Batchelor & Maureen Lander
Digital artwork - Online, 6 April 2023 – ongoing

This series of lens-based observations and the installation that follows it in June will monitor the ephemeral, weather-borne sea foam at the entrance and shoreline of Te Hokianga Nui a Kupe, the Hokianga Harbour, in north-west New Zealand.

About this Report

Hukatai ~ Sea Foam

Hukatai – huka/foam, tai/tide
Hukahuka – froth; thrums on a cloak; fringe; hanging in shreds
Hukatai – a white stone used in the ceremonies of the whare wananga

This series of lens-based observations will become inspiration for an installation that will monitor the ephemeral, weather-borne sea foam at the entrance and shoreline of Te Hokianga Nui a Kupe, the Hokianga Harbour, in north-west New Zealand. The south headland is named Araiteuru, after a legendary taniwha who was located in a cave there. Maureen Lander’s ancestor, Te Waenga, was a tohunga who controlled the wind and the waves at the bar entrance and kept his powers in the cave.

Over the course of a year, Denise Batchelor has photographed and filmed the rhythms of different foams in the Hokianga Harbour, monitoring their weather and tidal appearances and following the light of their rainbow textures and their seasonal shifts. Denise lives close to Araiteuru, with views out over the harbour to Niwa, the taniwha embodied by the sandhills at the north head. When Maureen lived in Hokianga, she often joined Denise in her walks, and they worked together on a previous installation titled Ebb, made in response to jellyfish and seaweed washed up along the shoreline. During Summer 2023, Maureen and Denise will come together again to explore the hukatai, sea foams, through walks on the shore, lens-based observations, and conversation. An installation by Maureen and Denise will be developed for Te Tuhi in June, together with sound composer Stiobhan Lothian.

The shoreline and the horizon are liminal spaces, thresholds or "crossing over” spaces, where land meets sea and sea meets sky – transitional spaces activated by weather. A liminal space can also be a longer space-time continuum. Sea foam is a visible indicator of the gradual effects of climate change on inundation over time as well as the immediate effect of weather events like storms at sea. It can also indicate the presence of toxic organisms such as algae bloom and microplastics that help churn up masses of foam in certain weather conditions. Te Hukatai, the sea foams, are messengers of things to come. Sound~music is composed in response to the movements of the foam by Stiobhan Lothian.

Visit the project on Te Tuhi's website

Maureen Lander

Maureen Lander (Te Hikutu, Ngapuhi) is a multi-media installation artist who has exhibited locally, nationally and internationally since 1986. From the early 1990s until 2007, Maureen taught Māori Material Culture courses at Auckland University. She has a Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Elam School of Fine Arts and her contemporary artwork draws inspiration from fibre pieces in museum collections and early illustrations. Since her retirement from university teaching, Maureen has continued to make and exhibit her artwork, mainly in the form of large fibre installations such as Aho Kura Huna in Te Papa’s cloak exhibition Kahu Ora (2012), Sky Skirts in Towards the Morning Sun at Campbelltown Arts Centre in West Sydney (2013), and Flatpack Whakapapa at the Dowse Museum, Lower Hutt (2017), then touring New Zealand until 2021.

Denise Batchelor

Denise Batchelor is a visual artist based in the Hokianga, in the "far north" of Aoteaora New Zealand. Working primarily in photography and video, her practice is predominantly focused on her engagement with the natural environment; capturing fleeting moments that are often overlooked or unseen. She frequently photographs and videos the changing weather patterns on the sky, sea and sandhills from her home and on her walks along the beach. A recipient of artist residencies and art awards, Batchelor has exhibited widely in galleries, museums and festivals in New Zealand and internationally. Her work is held in public and private collections. In 2020, as part of the New Zealand Festival, her work was projected onto the exterior of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

Stiobhan Lothian

Stìobhan Lothian is a sound artist/composer based in Aotearoa. His sound resume extends from near – collaborating on performance soundscapes at Unitec's School of Contemporary Dance – to far,  working with sound artist/musician Alexei Borisov for several years while living in Moscow. Other highlights include creating a sound installation for Cat Ruka's multimedia show Skulduggery at the Wellington Fringe Festival, and locally, collaborating with composer Claire Cowan on the sound for Alys Longley's Suture production at the Little Maidment Theatre.

Commissioned by Te Tuhi and supported by Creative New Zealand and Tautai Pacific Arts Trust

Part of the weather station: Te Moana Nui A Kiwa, Aotearoa (Great Ocean of Kiwa, New Zealand) - find out more here.

View the artwork here

Denise Batchelor, Hokianga Nui a Kupe, from the series Hukatai ~ Sea foam, 2022–2023. Part of a collaboration towards an installation with Maureen Lander.
Denise Batchelor, Waimamaku, from the series Hukatai ~ Sea foam, 2022–2023. Part of a collaboration towards an installation with Maureen Lander.
Denise Batchelor, Mitimiti, from the series Hukatai ~ Sea foam, 2022–2023. Part of a collaboration towards an installation with Maureen Lander.
Denise Batchelor, Hokianga Nui a Kupe, from the series Hukatai ~ Sea foam, 2022–2023. Part of a collaboration towards an installation with Maureen Lander.
Denise Batchelor, Mitimiti, from the series Hukatai ~ Sea foam, 2022–2023. Part of a collaboration towards an installation with Maureen Lander.
Denise Batchelor, Waimamaku, from the series Hukatai ~ Sea foam, 2022–2023. Part of a collaboration towards an installation with Maureen Lander.
Denise Batchelor, Waimamaku, from the series Hukatai ~ Sea foam, 2022–2023. Part of a collaboration towards an installation with Maureen Lander.
Denise Batchelor, Hokianga Nui a Kupe, from the series Hukatai ~ Sea foam, 2022–2023. Part of a collaboration towards an installation with Maureen Lander.
Denise Batchelor, Hokianga Nui a Kupe, from the series Hukatai ~ Sea foam, 2022–2023. Part of a collaboration towards an installation with Maureen Lander.
Denise Batchelor, Mitimiti, from the series Hukatai ~ Sea foam, 2022–2023. Part of a collaboration towards an installation with Maureen Lander.
Denise Batchelor, Mitimiti, from the series Hukatai ~ Sea foam, 2022–2023. Part of a collaboration towards an installation with Maureen Lander.

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