Artwork Information

Russ Flatt (Ngāti Kahungunu) makes staged photographs that address cultural identity and contemplate Aotearoa’s political realities and its ethnic diversity. He lives and works in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

Referring to the words Jacinda Ardern used to galvanise the nation during COVID-19 lockdowns, Team of Five Million asks us to consider whether we are indeed united or whether our political realities and social constructs work to divide us.

Team of Five Million is the artist’s seventh solo exhibition at Tim Melville Gallery. His photographs of staged scenes explore identity and our political realities, often through contemplation of memory and the past. His recent work addresses contemporary cultural and political issues of Māori and members of Aotearoa’s Rainbow community.