Ranginui + Papatūānuku is an immersive installation, reflecting upon the Polynesian cultural connection toward the land and sea. This work encapsulates the importance of spirituality within the Oceanic culture, highlighted through traditional storytelling dance. The primal source of life, the sea, is symbolically displayed as a freestanding water wall. It is the collaboration of sound, performance and the representation of water, that educates the audience upon the Polynesian belief systems and traditional practices.

Ranginui + Papatūānuku evidently creates an individual’s experience with understanding a spiritual connectivity with their surroundings. Land is a source of life and the core of culture. The performative integration of the work deeply engages with the traditional storytelling of Cook Island dance, to reflect the importance of the land and sea. The combination of diegetic sounds of the rushing water and the non-diegetic sounds of the music, creates an immersive spiritual connection toward natures products. Overall, the work aims to educate the audience upon the importance of land and understand the Indigenous spiritual ties with the land.

Progress: Ranginui + Papatūānuku
New Contemporaries

Ranginui + Papatūānuku, 2021. Video Installation, 2.6m x 2.1m. Photo: Document Photography. New Contemporaries, SCA Galleries.