Whai whakaaro ana a Shannon Te Ao ki āna hapa me ōna wawata e hangaia ai āna mahinga toi tini momo. I kōrero ia ki a Hanahiva Rose mō te reo, te akoranga, me te tōaitanga.
I te tauākītanga mai i te kaitoi kiriata me te whakaaturanga, a Shannon Te Ao (Ngāti Tūwharetoa) hei whakaihuwaka o te tino Tohu a Walters, ko tā Doryun Chong, “E hiahia ana au kia mihia a Shannon i tāna whakamaumahara ki au, i ētahi wā, ka ahu mai te mahinga toi whaikaha rawa i tētahi ture purotu o te mahi ngāwari me ngā tōaitanga”.
He kanohi kitea ki ngā mahinga a Shannon te whakaaro o te tōaitanga hei tukanga e āta waihanga nei i ngā hua ahurei. E kitea nei i Two shoots that stretch far out (2013–14), te mahi i riro ai te tohu Walters, e whakaatu nei i tā Shannon tōai i te whakataki i tētahi whakapākehātanga o tētahi waiata ki tētahi hunga kararehe pāmu e panoni haere ana; ā, e huna ana i te ingoa i tāna mahinga toi inatata nei, ko Ka mua, ka muri (2020). Ko tīkina ake tētahi whakataukī, me tōna tikanga e kīia nei, me hīkoi whakamuri ki te anamata: me mōhio tātou ki ngā mahi o mua e mōhio ai ki ngā mahi hei te tau tītoki. E noho ana hei pakiaka mō te mahinga toi ko tētahi kiriata, ko Karere ana, taapapa ana, e whai haere ana i tētahi tokorua kōtiro i muri tata mai i tētahi aituā tē kōrerohia nei.
I whānau mai a Shannon i te Whenua Moemoeā ki tētahi whaea o tērā whenua, rāua ko tētahi matua Māori. I hūnuku ia ki Tāmaki Makaurau i ōna tau 20 kia kuraina ki te Kura Toi o Elam i ngā tau wawe o te 2000. “He mea māia tā Kate panaia au i te waka i tōku rangi tuatahi, ko ia tōku hoa i taua wā, me tāku hoa ināianei. Kāore au i pīrangi ki te haere.”
Ā mohoa nei, ko mahia e Shannon tētahi tohu paetahi whakaako, me te tohu Paerua ki Ngā Mahi Toi. He Pūkenga Matua ia ki te Kura Toi ki Whiti o Rehua, ki Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa, ki Pōneke. E rata ana ia ki te mahi whakaako? “Āe rā, e arohaina ana. Ina kitea tētahi e koe e ako mārika ana i ērā mahi āna, i ōna ake ngahau raini, ki mua tonu i a koe, i te wā tūturu, he mea mīharo tēnā.”
I kōrero tahi māua tērā tau ā-kiriata, ko Shannon ki tōna kāinga ki ngā puke o Pōneke, ko au ki Ngāmotu. Ko toritori ngā marama ko taha ake: ko tārewa, ko tāpui anō ngā whakakitenga; ko hūnuku ā-tuihono ngā whakaakoranga; ko ngā tono i ngā whare toi he mea matihiko; te kura i te kāinga. Ko iti te āhua o te whare, e ai ki a ia i tērā wā. I toko ake te maharatanga ki tāna whakaaturanga ā-kiriata nō te 2011 e kīia nei ko Untitled (McCahon House Studies), i kiriatatia i te kāinga iti o mua o Colin McCahon ki Titirangi, ki Tāmaki. I konihi atu a Shannon ki te whare, me tāna whakamau i te koroka o Kate me tētahi uru whakapīwari, e mahia ai ngā tini ngohe hārakiraki e whakahorohoro ana i ngā tono tohe a te hinengaro ki te auaha me te whānau.
Nōku i kōrero ki a ia, ko puta ia i te whare, ko waihape ki te tari ināianei, ā, ko koke i āna mahi hinonga i Aotearoa, i tāwāhi hoki. I tae rā anō a Two shoots which stretch far out ki te whakaaturanga tumeke a Toi o Tāmaki, ko Toi Tū Toi Ora, i tērā raumati.
Ki hea tīmata ai āna mahi? “Ko maha ngā wa ko whai hua au i ngā mahi e ora kē ana, heoti, he rite tonu ināianei taku kimi whakaaweawe i āku ake hapa, i ōku ake wawata kia eke panuku, kia āta ruku ki āku mahinga o mua.”
Koia tēnei i pēnei ai a Ka mua, ka muri, e whakapapangia ana ki ngā whakaahua me ngā tāhū i pupū ake i te mahinga toi nō 2019, ko work what was or could be today (again).
“Kātahi i hoatu au i ērā rawa ki a Kurt Komene (Te Ātiawa, Taranaki Whānui) kia uruparengia. Anā, ko āna urupare te tuihinga. Te āhua nei, e rongo rawaka nei au i te here-kore, hei kaitoi, kia waihanga i ngā mea – ehara i te mea ka tīmata i te kore – heoti, hei urupare ki āku mahi.” I awheawhe a Komene ki ngā waiata hōu e rua, ā, i hua ake ko te puoro me te tuhinga o te mahinga whānui.
Ka pēnei tētahi o ngā rārangi o te whiti, “Tāpapa ana taku ara o te ora, waewae ana te mauri tini tāngata”, ā, ko tōna tikanga, “Ko whakatakoto mai te ara o tōku oranga, ka mutu, e takahia ana e te mauri o te tini me te mano”.
E ngahau ana ki ahau te ohia kia waihanga i ngā tini mahinga toi e kōrero ana ki ngā mahinga toi anō, e whakaaweawe mai ai, e puāwai mai ai hoki i ērā anō; kia tuari i tētahi ao, engari kia ora takitahi hoki. E whakapae ana i tētahi āheinga, me tētahi nako kia whakawhiti kōrero. Me taku mōhio hoki ki tō Shannon ngahau ki te reo, e kitea mārika nei ki āna kiriata e rua, me āna tānga, me āna toi puni ā-kupu, ka uia tōna hononga ki te reo Māori.
“Ehara i te mea ko te whakamahinga o te reo ki āku mahi he ataata o tōku ake ara reo. I tupu ake au me te reo kore, me te aha hoki, he iti noa te reo huri noa i ahau. He maha ngā mea e pēnā ai, heoti hei te mutunga iho, he mātauranga anō tērā me kapo e tātou. E whakanui ana au i ērā āhuatanga i ahau e mahi ana, e piki haere ana taku māiatanga hei ākonga, hei kaikōrero, hei tangata e hohe ana ki te ao Māori, ka mutu, he maha ngā ara e pāhekoheko nei au i tēnei.”
I tuwhera mai a Ka mua, ka muri ki a Remai Modern, ki Saskatoon, ki Kānata i te Ākuhata o 2020. Nō te whakakitenga atu, ko murare haere te toi puni. I tae rā anō ana ki te 2021 Gwangju Biennale, ki Korea ki te Tonga, me te aha hoki, i noho ki Te Uru Waitakere, ki Tāmaki Makaurau i te tīmatanga o tēnei tau. Ki Te Uru, oroko noho tahi ai tētahi kohinga whakaahua ki te toi puni, e koke tonu nā i te tōmene i ngā wāhi me ngā ohia i oroko kitea i ngā momo o mua me ngā hinonga anō.
I a te ao e tōmenetia nei e ngā mahinga toi a Shannon e whakawhānuni tonu ana, ka kōpē ōna āhuatanga ataata, me ōna aronga ita, e kumea whakatata nei tātou, ki te pokapū mārika. E noho nei ki tētahi wāhi e mōhio ana, e kore hoki e mōhio ana, ki tua o onamata, o inamata, o anamata, e meinga nei tō Shannon tōmina kia waihanga i ngā mahi e kawe nei i a tātou – i a ia hoki – ki ngā wāhi ko kore rawa nei e toro atu.
Tōna tikanga he mea whakangahau, hei tāna ki ahau. He mea hirahira te whakangahau ki a ia, i a ia e waihanga ana i āna mahinga? “He mea hirahira. E ohorere ana ngā tāngata, i ētahi wā, i te kitenga atu i ahau i muri i te kite i āku mahi, ka mutu, he mea pōuriuri i ētahi wā. Mōku ake, ko te whakangahau me te tākaro haere he mea e hāngai ana ki te tuwhera i tētahi wāhi hōu, ā, koia tērā e hirahira nei ki ahau hei kaitoi: ko te tae atu ki tētāhi wāhi e kore nei au i whakapae ka tae atu.”
Nā Anna Briggs ngā whakaahua kiritangata
Nā Taurapa Matiu te whakamāoritanga
You can read this story in English in ArtZone #88
