This event is a public event supporting our current exhibition of WAI -the water project; curated by Gregory O’Brien and Bruce Foster in partnership with Pātaka Art + Museum.
For centuries, water has, and continues to be a revered resource in Aotearoa, fundamental to the spiritual, cultural and economic lives of tangata whenua.
European Colonial settlers had other priorities and used waterways as conduits for waste from saw-milling, mining, and industry. Rivers flowing through towns became open sewers and the impact of deforestation was ignored.
Apart from some notable exceptions, up until the last 40 years, waterways were, by and large, taken for granted by the general public. Now, in an era of ramped-up environmental degradation from the intensification of agriculture and urbanization, water is being reconsidered not only as a natural element essential to our wellbeing, but as a carrier of histories and traditions with a myriad of individual and collective meanings.
Contributors to our Kaitiaki Wai panel discussion will discuss what can be done to protect and conserve our precious resources of pure water and how we can play a part in its conservation, personally and collectively.
The panelists include:
Dr Mike Joy, Senior Research Fellow, School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington, specialising in fresh water ecology;
Gregory O’Brien, artist, poet, art commentator and co-curator of WAI- the water project exhibition;
Professor Huhana Smith, a visual artist, curator and trans-disciplinary researcher of how mātauranga Māori methods can combine with sciences to actively address climate change concerns.
Naomi Solomon, LLB Victoria University of Wellington, senior Policy Analyst at Te Puni Kokiri, long serving board member and current manager of Te Rununga o Toa Rangatira and Director of Te Ahuru Mowai.
Nigel Clarke - Porirua City Council Senior Advisor Porirua Harbour, Catchments and Resource Recovery
