Our place. climate. world.
Through the Eye of the Lens – Te Whanganui-a-Tara
In collaboration with Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts, 21 February – 20 March 2022
In the fifth collaboration in the series around Aotearoa New Zealand rangatahi from across Te Whanganui-a-Tara | Wellington explored climate change and environmental issues through the lens of a camera.
In collaboration with Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts, Track Zero worked with five colleges/schools in a series of separate workshops. Students from Bishop Viard College, Naenae College, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngā Mokopuna, Wainuiomata High School and Titahi Bay Intermediate School shared knowledge about climate change and mātauranga Maori and science with Professors James Renwick, Tim Naish and Dr Daniel Hikuroa. They then spent a week learning camera skills and storytelling with professional photographers: Te Rawhitiroa Bosch, Raymond Sagapolutele, Te Kawa Robb and Te Whanganui-a-Tara locals: Chevron Hassett and Virginia Woods-Jack.
Part of the workshops were taught via zoom by Te Rawhitiroa and Raymond due to COVID-19 preventing their travel.
In November 2021, images taken by each group of students and artists were on display in exhibitions presented in their local communities (Naenae Community Library, Pātaka Art + Museum, Wainuiomata Community Hub and Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngā Mokopuna ).
Powerful statements and images taken from the point of view of the group of rangatahi, as well as a selection of photos from Te Kawa Robb, Virginia Woods-Jack, Chevron Hassett and Raymond Sagapolutele will be on view in a series of exhibitions during the Festival from 21 February – 20 March 2022 and online, here on Track Zero’s website.
Follow us on social media and the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts 2022 for more detail as this exciting project unfolds.
THROUGH THE EYE OF THE LENS – TE WHANGANUI-A-TARA
21 February – 20 March 2022
IN COLLABORATION WITH:
Wainuiomata High School
Naenae College
Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngā Mokopuna
Bishop Viard College
Titahi Bay Intermediate School
View Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts 2022 Programme
Exhibitions
Be inspired by the photographs taken and curated by the young artists and photographers, expressing their views about climate change.
MAJOR SUPPORTER:
Image credit: Te Kawa Robb
Students from Titahi Bay Intermediate School
Image credit: Te Kawa Robb
Students from Wainuiomata High School
THANKS TO:
for support towards camera equipment
Testimonials
Exploring climate science
The five workshops were preceded by an interactive talk called, ‘Ice, Balloons and Zero Carbon: Climate Science Talk’ for the young artists and their families led by expert Climate Scientists, Professors James Renwick, Tim Naish and Dr Daniel Hikuroa.
They then learned about photography and were encouraged to think about how the changing climate is affecting the world they live in.
Climate and the camera
“The power of telling climate stories through a camera lens is that it engages our imagination and connects with people on an emotional level. The science tells us that every tenth of a degree of warming adds to the risks that undermine our way of life. One degree of warming is already giving us more intense extremes, but going beyond two degrees would be very damaging indeed. To halt the warming at no more than 1.5 degrees, we must act now and give it everything we’ve got. We must halve the global emissions of carbon dioxide by 2030 and get to zero by 2050. By sharing ideas, working together and telling stories about the future we want to see, we can do it.”
Climate Science Facts
Photographic Workshop
In the first workshops in October 2021, award winning photographers, Te Rawhitiroa Bosch and Te Whanganui-a-Tara locals Chevron Hassett and Te Kawa Robb taught students from Naenae College and Ngā Mokopuna how to become storytellers.
In the second workshops, Auckland-based Raymond Sagapolutele and Te Whanganui-a-Tara locals Virginia Woods-Jack and Te Kawa Robb shared their creative skills with students from Wainuiomata High School and Bishop Viard College.
In early 2022, Titahi Bay Intermediate School students learned to tell climate stories through a camera lens from Raymond Sagapolutele and Te Kawa Robb.
Te Kawa Robb
Ngāti Pūkeko, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Scottish
Growing up on the wild south coast of Te Whanganui a Tara, Te Kawa started exploring photography with a second-hand film camera in his early teens, documenting the moods and emotions of taiao, the natural environment, around him.
Working with whānau in the community as an educator, it’s the complex and ancestral connection between people and taiao, and the stories and knowledge that are created within spaces of learning, that form the focus of much of Te Kawa’s current work.
Documenting traditional Māori art forms and practices, preserving precious moments of learning and connection, are the legacy that Te Kawa aims to leave for whānau, supporting reclamation of art forms to build intergenerational resilience in response to our changing climate.
Virginia Woods-Jack
Virginia Woods-Jack is a British-born photographic artist, advocate and curator currently living and working in Aotearoa New Zealand. Through her work, she explores her connection to place as a way to consider relationships between the human and more-than-human worlds. By doing so, she aims to understand how memory informs the way we interact with the natural environment to highlight the importance of care in navigating the climate crisis. This being integral to the preservation of the planet.
Chevron Hassett
Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Rongomaiwahine, Pākehā (Irish)
Chevron Hassett, born Lower Hutt, Aotearoa (NZ) is an early career artist of Māori and Pākehā heritage. He graduated with a Bachelor of Design with Honours from Massey University in 2017 and was the recipient of the Ngā Manu Pirere award from Creative New Zealand.
Hassett is a visual artist predominantly working in lens-based media, sculpture and public installation. At the heart of his practice is the essential spirit of whanaungatanga, the Māori concept of connecting, building and maintaining relationships within communities. Hassett holistically collaborates with his local communities and peoples, his recent works engage with narratives of socio-cultural identities, urban indigeneity and colonialism within Pacific and indigenous histories.
Recent exhibitions include: Head in the clouds, Artspace, Sydney, 2021; JustUs, Enjoy Gallery, Wellington, 2020; Commoner, St Paul St Gallery, Auckland, 2020; Companions, Pari_Ari Gallery, Sydney, 2020; Strands, The Dowse Museum, Lower Hutt, 2019; Kōhanga, Firstdraft, Sydney, 2019; Visual Arts Residency, Toi Pōneke, Wellington, 2019.
Raymond Sagapolutele
Award winning Aotearoa-born Sāmoan artist, Raymond Sagapolutele says the camera has become a vital part of his ability to reconnect with cultural ties to Pacific history, the land and ocean. Speaking through images gives his visual language a voice – the method that forms his oratory and connects to the Samoan tradition of Fagogo (storytelling).
Te Rawhitiroa Bosch
Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Pākehā
Whakapae tonutia kia puta te rā, e kore e ngaro, ā, tau noa ki te moana.
Te Rawhitiroa has spent over a decade working as a professional photographer with a love for photography that is grounded in his passion for capturing moments of connection: people to people, people to place, Pūrākau – storytelling – is one of the most powerful connecting forces in the world. As a photographer Te Rawhitiroa enjoys engaging the power of storytelling; by capturing not only the subject, but also the deeper story, the magic, the heart, the emotion behind each moment to share with others.
With years of experience running youth development programmes nationally and a love for sharing the gifts of learning he has been privileged to have learnt and been taught throughout the years he enjoys working with rangatahi to support them to unleash their potential.
Local Exhibitions
In late 2021 and early 2022, images taken by each group of students and artists were on display in print and digital exhibitions presented in their local communities: Naenae Community Library, Pātaka Art + Museum, Wainuiomata Community Hub and Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngā Mokopuna.
Image credits: Te Kawa Robb and Sarah Meads