Te Pūtahitanga ō Rehua

Kei te huri te puna koropupū hei awa tuarangi e rere ai ngā mātātuhi whetū. Ko tā te wai o konei he mea whakanoa i a tātou e tūpono ana ki ngā āhuatanga o neherā. Ko ia te mana rangatira o ngā atua tuarangi Māori nā reira kei ngā rangi tūhāhā tōna kāinga. E ai ki ngā kōrero a Tūhoe ko Rehua te whetū Antares, ko tāna he tohu i ngā panonitanga kaupeka, he whakamahu hoki.

Ko tā Reuben Paterson he titiro, he aho, he tirohanga huhua. Nuku ai te nohoanga o ngā whetū i te rangi me ngā tikanga ahurea mō aua whetū, e ai ki te wāhi e mātakihia ana; pērā rā hoki te toi pāhomatarau a *Te Pūtahitanga o Rehua*, 2005. Tirohia anō.

A bubbling puna (spring) unfolds into a cosmic stream of star imagery. The presence of water here is means to keep us noa (free from tapu/forbidden and therefore unrestricted) as we encounter the past. Chief among the Māori star gods, Rehua dwells in the highest heavens. Identified as the celestial star Antares in Tūhoe legend, Rehua is a marker of seasonal change and is associated with healing.

Reuben Paterson is interested in the act of looking, light and multiplicity of perspectives. Just as the positions of stars in the night sky and their cultural interpretation are affected by the viewer’s location, *Te Pūtahitanga o Rehua*, 2005 is multi-dimensional. Look again.

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