Cinema Marae: Kahungunu Marae of Nūhaka
11 July – 13 August, 2023
AV Gallery
Curated by Leo Koziol (Ngāti Rakaipaaka, Ngāti Kahungunu)
Artists: Leo Koziol and Jordan Koziol-Repia (Ngāti Rakaipaaka, Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Arawa)
CURATOR’S STATEMENT
Kahungunu Marae in Nūhaka is unique amongst marae in Aotearoa in having a featuring role in Broken Barrier by John O'Shea. A living Māori community was presented on screen, indeed the living community of my own whānau - my grandparents on the screen, my uncles, my great-uncles. The Cinema Marae exhibition presents archival footage and photographs of Kahungunu Marae and the Nūhaka community in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. There are artistic works with a focus on the marae today, a digital marae created by media-artist Jordan Koziol-Repia, and photographs from the Wairoa Māori Film Festival over the years (the marae has been home for the festival since 2005). Broken Barrier was the only feature film made in New Zealand in the 1950s, so it is a national taonga of great significance. Included in the exhibition is AFTER THE FLOOD an artistic response to the recent Cyclone Gabrielle impact on the Nūhaka marae, by the Kahukuranui Film Collective (KFC).
-Leo Koziol (Ngāti Rakaipaaka, Ngāti Kahungunu)