Mum (May 1985)

I ētahi wā, ko tā te whakaahua kiritangata, pērā i tā ētahi atu toi, he tauākī, he taumanu i te tangata anō. I ētahi wā, he kaikawe ki ngā kōrerohanga nui ake. Ko tā tēnei peita mumura a Mum (May 1985), 2020, he tīmata i te haerenga whaiaro. He tārua o te whakaahua mō te whaea o Ayesha Green e haere ana ki tōna marae a Ōtākou i runga i Hereweka – hei waewae tapu. Kei te tū ia ki te whatitoka o te marae a Tamatea, ki mua i te kūaha kua katia, kia whakaahuatia. Kei te hopukia e te peita a Green (pērā i te whakaahua taketake) te wā e hiamo ai ia, e tōngā ai hoki.

Kei te whakaatu a Green i tēnei wā tīmatanga hei koke atu i te kōrero mō te honotanga o te tangata ki tōna tūrangawaewae. Pērā i tōna whaea, ka tupu ia e mamao ai i tōna marae i te tonga. I ngā tau e rua kua taha ake nei, kua noho ia, kua mahi ia ki Ōtepoti; nā reira i āhei ai ia ki te rapu i tōna whakapapa Kāi Tahu, ki te whakawhanaunga anō hoki i te iwi o te marae, o te hapori o Ōtākou. Kei te whakaatu tēnei whakaahua kiritangata i taua kaupapa anō, arā, te whakahirahira o te whakapapa e pā ana ki te taumanu i te tuakiri.

Portraiture, as with other forms of representation, can be understood as declarations and reclamations of the self. They can act as conduits to larger investigations. This bold painting, Mum (May 1985), 2020, sets in motion a personal journey. It replicates a photograph of Ayesha Green’s mother visiting her ancestral marae (communal space) – Ōtākou on Otago Peninsula – for the first time. In the closed doorway of the wharenui (meeting house) Tamatea, she poses for a snapshot. Green’s painting (much like the original photograph) captures an exciting yet tentative moment.

Green depicts this moment of introduction to discuss an ongoing relationship to one’s cultural heritage. Like her mum, the artist grew up disconnected by distance from her southern marae. For the past two years she has been living and working in Ōtepoti (Dunedin), a move that has enabled her to map her Kāi Tahu whakapapa (genealogy) and establish relationships with Ōtākou marae and its community. This portrait reiterates the simple yet crucial role of whakapapa in the reclamation of a deeper understanding of one’s identity.

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