Anton Forde: Papare Eighty.one

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