Raupatu

Ko tēnei hanganga mumura a Jacqueline Fraser he takaiho rīpene papamōhinu e rua e iri ana ki te wāhi o te whare whakairi taonga e topa ai ki runga ake i te papa. Kei te pungaia tēnā takaiho, tēnā takaiho e te pūtoi rīpene kua herea kikīhia. Kei te iri, kei te tautuhi i te wāhi o te whare whakairi taonga ānō nei he puakitanga e whakamārama ana i te rārangi take, i te pākani rānei. Ko *Raupatu*, 1980, te ingoa o te toi, he taonga i hangaia ai e Fraser e noho ana i Ōtepoti. Ko te kupu ‘raupatu’ he kupu e whakaatu ai i ‘te tāhae, te patu, te pokea’. I runga i te horopaki o te hitori koroniara o Aotearoa, ko tā tēnei toi he whakaatu i te raupatu hē a te Karauna i te whenua Māori, ā, he pānga ki te wero i ngā takahanga i te Tiriti o Waitangi. Ko tā Fraser whakamahi i te kupu ki te whakaatu i te tāhae o te ‘rangatiratanga’ ahakoa whenua, ahakoa ahurea, ahakoa reo, ahakoa ngā rawa o te tangata o te iwi rānei. Ko tā tēnei toi he whakaatu, he huna hoki i ngā ariā mō te herekore me te mana whakahaere.

In this bold installation by Jacqueline Fraser two black satin ribbon drops suspended in the gallery space hover above the floor. Each drop is anchored by a tightly bound collection of ribbons. They demarcate the gallery space like testimony outlining an agenda or provocation. Titled *Raupatu*, 1980, the work is an early piece created while Fraser was living in Dunedin. The word ‘raupatu’ means ‘to take without any right, to conquer, to overcome’. Within the context of New Zealand’s colonial history, it represents the unjust confiscation of Māori land by the Crown and is related to contesting breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi. Fraser applies the word to describe the unjust taking of one’s ‘sovereignty’, whether this be land, culture, language or personal and collective possessions. The work both declares and conceals ideas of freedom and authority.

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