TRAPPED IN A KISS

Exhibited in Māori Moving Image ki te Puna Waiwhetū, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, Ōtautahi Christchurch, curated by Bridget Reweti and Melanie Oliver (group)

In' Trapped' in a kiss, Ana Iti looks at the ways Ralph Hotere (Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa) used text in his artworks, and at the histories of publishing in Aotearoa. First, Ana breathes onto a glass window at Limeworks (1987–94), the former printmaking studio in Ōtautahi where Hotere made many of his prints. Writing the word ‘hue’, meaning colour in English or gourd in te reo Māori, in the condensation, she pays tribute to Hine-pū-te-hue, the atua of musical instruments made from hue and plays on the use of breath for wind instruments. Next, Ana makes a small letterpress print of the word ‘one’ on an Albion printing press from 1866, a press similar to those used for printing early biblical texts in Māori, and by Māori for publishing newspapers and distributing political information during a time when they were fighting to keep their land. Hineahuone was the first person to breathe life; she was made from one, the clay of Kurawaka. Drawing these two scenes together, the artist considers our relationship to the breath of life and the importance of language, and asks who is the author of our histories and futures.

- Melanie Oliver

Single-channel HD video, colour, sound, duration 9 mins 37 secs