Te Puāwai

Ko te ūnga ko te Mackelvie Gallery, ko tā Shane Cotton *Te Puawai*, 2020 he whakapōrearea, he pāhekoheko i te hoahoanga ā-kiko, ā-tohu hoki o te whare nei, he kōrerorero mō te whakatere waka, mō te whakawhiti i te mātauranga ahurea, mō te tukunga iho o te koroniaratanga. Ko ngā toi he waka hei kawe i ngā ariā, ahakoa he peita mō te poti, ahakoa he ata toka Tatimana nō te rautau 17 kua peitahia e J Bourjinon, he waka kawe tikanga e tāraia ai e ngā tirohanga motuhake, e ngā tauira ā-ahurea. Ko tā te poti he tohu mō te whakatere, mō te haerenga, arā ko te taenga mai, ko te wehenga atu. Ko te mahi a te waka hei kipakipa i te kōrero mō ngā hitori ā-ahurea a te Māori me te Pākehā hei pūtahi kākano rua i te rangatiratanga o Aotearoa he kaupapa auau i roto i te toi a Shane Cotton.

Ahakoa kei te hemahema, ehara te *Te Puawai* i te mahi toi noa iho; he taonga kē ki te whānau; he taonga i hangaia ai e te hungarei o te ringa toi. He nui ngā tohutoro ki ngā hāereerenga i tārai ai i tēnei whenua. Ko te kōwhaiwhai e whakarākei ai i te ihuwaka, he ōrite ki te puhoro kōwhaiwhai e whakarākei ai i ngā waka, ā, ko te āhua o te poti me āna hoe e rua he tohu mō ngā hitori whakatere moana a te Pākehā. Ko tā te *Te Puawai* e noho taupua nei ki te wāhi o te whare whakairi toi, he wāhi e whakaatu nei i te pānga o te hitori o Ūropi i Aotearoa nei, he whakaatu i te huaranga me te pāhekoheko o ngā mātauranga ā-ahurea i tārai ai i ngā tukunga iho o te motu e karapotihia ai e te moana.

Berthed in the historic Mackelvie Gallery, Shane Cotton’s *Te Puawai*, 2020 disrupts and engages with the gallery’s physical and symbolic architecture, entering into kōrerorero (discussion) about voyaging, the transmittance of cultural knowledge and the legacy of colonialism. Artworks are the vessels for ideas, whether this be a painted dinghy boat or a 17th-century Dutch still-life painting by J Bourjinon, they carry meaning, informed by specific worldviews and cultural paradigms. The boat is a signifier of navigation, of journeying, of arrival and departure. The role of vessels in discussing Māori and Pākehā (European New Zealander) cultural histories as bicultural intersections in Aotearoa New Zealand nationhood has been a consistent investigation in the art of Shane Cotton.

Although empty, *Te Puawai* is not just an artwork, it is a cherished family item made by the artist’s father-in-law. It is laden with references to the journeying that shaped this country. The painted pattern adorning the prow mimics the puhoro kōwhaiwhai that adored waka (canoes), while the boat’s dinghy shape and its two oars speak to European seafaring histories. Temporarily moored here and manifesting the continued presence and influence of European history in Aotearoa New Zealand, *Te Puawai* draws attention to the transplantation and interaction of cultural knowledges that have shaped the ongoing legacies of a land surrounded by sea.

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