Exhibition

Anton Forde: Papare Eighty.one

22 JUNE–13 OCTOBER 2024

Collective action, sustainable systems and the protection of our natural environments are at the heart of Anton Forde’s newest installation. 

81 carved, wooden pou appear as sentinels in the gallery. Each pou – distinguished from each other by only the slightest difference in head shape, inclination, and hand-carved Pounamu taonga – are placed in a kao kao (chevron)-inspired formation. The specific motifs, carved forms and numerology in Papare Eighty.one are drawn from a connection to taiao and natural systems that have sustained humanity.

Configuring the pou as guards, Forde places natural environments under their protection.  As individuals – both visitor and pou – gather together, 
Papare Eighty.one enacts a call to kotahitanga; to collective action that safeguards the future of our natural world for generations to come.

Image: Anton Forde, Te Kotahitanga o Whakamaru / The Unity of Protection, 2022

Artist Anton Forde shares a little about how his latest exhibition came to be.

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Anton Forde: Papare Eighty.one, opening night, 2024

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