Nelson Magazine - February 2022

Page 15

TIM WILLIAMS

The Wāhine Exhibition featured at Founders Heritage Park two years ago and is returning this month to the Refinery with some added portraits.

Wāhine wisdom shared at exhibition Eight women are in a room. Their voices at least, and portraits too. Come and sit down. They have something to say. Words: Britt Coker

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t’s the Wāhine Exhibition, a growing collection of personal ‘sound journeys’ by Māori women. Initially interviewed about what was important to them, the wāhine also spent some time capturing their stories from home where they were encouraged to include background noises from their daily lives to make the listening a more immersive experience. The result, exhibition attendees can sit in front of a portrait they are drawn to, pop on a pair of headphones and become absorbed in these women’s lives for 15 minutes.

“Because everything was fresh I wasn’t aware of all the walls between Māori and Pākehā that are invisible but actually really tangible, so I just knocked on the door and went for it. It was only when I became deeper in the kaupapa that I became fully aware of these walls. I felt lots of doubt and uncertainty, was this my role or not, and after lots of conversations about this, both with Māori and Pākehā, I realised if I decided to stop that I would be letting the ripples of colonisation win once again, rather than trying to bridge that gap.”

A deceptively simple concept, its journey was a little less so. The artist and project manager behind the exhibition is Loren Pasquier. Arriving in New Zealand from France three years ago, Loren saw an opportunity that a new perspective so often provides.

Loren describes The Wāhine Exhibition as a rare opportunity to listen to someone’s story without asking questions. To be receptive, sure, but not immune. Because you can’t use voices in a project without expecting it to begin breathing on its own. And the result?

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