Queen Victoria

Ko tā Jeremy Leatinu‘ū mahi tohi he momo mahi ki ngā wāhi marea e hautū ai ia i ngā mahi, i ngā nukuhanga māmā noa iho e whakaatu ai e raweke ai i ngā tikanga kāwana o te tauoranga marea. Ko tētahi o aua mahi, ko te raupapatanga whakaari ko *Queen Victoria*, 2013 – he whakaari i mua i ngā whakapakoko e whā mō te Ariki Kuini Wikitoria i Tāmaki Makaurau, i Te Whanganui-a-Tara, i Ōtautahi, i Ōtepoti. Kitea ai a Leatinu‘ū e noho ngū ana i runga i tētahi arapiki e titiro whakarunga ana ki a Kuini Wikitoria. E ai ki a ia:

Kua whakatūria ngā whakapakoko pēnei kia tū teitei ake ai i a tātou, ā, kua pērā hoki ngā uara me ngā whakaaro mō te ao o ō rātou iwi ake. Kei reira te arapiki hei whakatuwhera i taua wāhi, kia whai tūranga ai ōku uara, ōku whakaaro mō te ao, o ōku iwi hoki, ka mutu kua whakatairangahia kia ōrite ai te mana.

Ko te whakaari e hāngai pū ai ki aua wāhi he mea e whakatutū nei te puehu, he mātātaki i ngā mana o te pāpori, i te pānekeneke o ngā iwi o te ao, i te mōreareatanga e pāngia ai ki ngā hapori taketake.

Jeremy Leatinu‘u’s early practice is characterised by public space interventions in which he choreographs simple actions or movements that enact and negotiate governing protocols of public life. The performance series *Queen Victoria*, 2013, staged in front of four statues of Her Royal Majesty the late Queen Victoria, located in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland, Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington, Ōtautahi/Christchurch and Ōtepoti/Dunedin, is one such work. Leatinu’u is depicted sitting silently atop a ladder looking up to Queen Victoria. He explains:

These statues are physically elevated above us and with them the values and worldviews of those whom they represent. The ladder is there to help open that space up so that my own values, worldviews and those of whom I belong to are also elevated and given the same status of importance.

This site-specific performance manifests tensions that question societal order, global mobility and the precariousness of Indigenous communities.

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