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Spanning early documentation of Jeremy Leatinu’u’s performance works through to immersive 16mm celluloid, this collection of mahi toi (art works) honours the creative conversation that the artist has established over a number of years with cinematographer Ian Powell. The moving image works in this program offer a rare opportunity to see the significant transition that has occurred as Leatinu’u and Powell move from a relationship of artist and videographer to collaborators on immersive, short films. Please note this collection of films will be looping from 10:30am - 4:30pm, Sat 30 Nov and 10:30am - 12:30pm, Sun 1 Dec for the Asia Pacific Triennial opening weekend.

Earthpushers 2017

An extension of Leatinu’u’s Earthpushers project, this video shares how the public helped the artist transport 500 bags of earth from the Auckland ferry terminal to Waiheke Island. Working with cinematographer Ian Powell the video traces Leatinu’u’s extensive research into the past and current histories of earth movement, the process of making the work as well as the overwhelming collective effort involved in transferring a tonne of earth across the Waitematā harbour.

6 minutes

Mai te kei o te waka ki te ihu o te waka (from the back of the canoe to the front of the canoe) 2018

Recounting the historic migration of Māori people from Hawaiki to Aotearoa on the Tainui waka, first in te reo Māori and then in English, this film recovers histories that have been overshadowed by the colonial mythology of European settlement.

8 minutes

When the Moon Sees the Sun 2019

Inspired by the death of Leatinu’u’s koroua (grandfather) the film is structured around six stanzas of a waiata (song) the artist composed in te reo Māori. With close-up shots of a bulb being planted and the rhythmic movements of the artist’s newborn daughter’s chest When the Moon Sees the Sun speaks of our enduring commitment to future generations.

20 minutes

Taonga tuku iho 2021

Taonga tuku iho is a filmic collection of related stories of water. Entrenched in the context and actions of domestic life, the work proposes that larger global questions of shortages and pollution rely upon knowledge and understandings embedded in our existing, often quotidian relationships to water.

11 minutes

Te Whakawhitinga 2022

Te Whakawhitinga makes a journey from the past to present via kōreo, still photographs and letters sent home. The challenge of revisiting historical trauma is alluded to in beautifully performed narrations of war and memory by Hunaara Kaa and Poata Alvie McKree.

11 minutes