to become birds

to embody/make/become/utilise bird like qualities

the native birds in Aotearoa were deafening!!

we call on our manu to return; we will become deafening again

WHAKAMANU 2020 raku fired uku/clay, harakeke, huruhuru toroa, kahurangi, kereru, pheasant, angiangi.

Story - sexual and colonial violence claimed my voice for a few decades .. I actively PRACTICE using my voice now. The voice has many shapes ..

In the reclamation of my voices and bodies from rape culture and imperialism.. I started to create multiple vulvas from the earth. Part of my process of healing sexual violence is in learning to feel and trust my bodies again; an ongoing practice.

#a note on ‘healing’ - this is a problematic word, co-opted by multiple corporates. What I mean when I say healing is PRACTICE. There are millions of practices that people engage in, some simple some complex, some ritual some chaotic, some spiritual some religious, some mental some emotional, some physical some intangible ETC. It comes down to setting intentions and your personal belief system; neither more correct or right than anyone elses. Healing is a personal path and also a collective path. We get to contribute in our own unique ways through PRACTICE. Some swear by allopathic medicine, some wont touch it. KEI A KOE. The way I am informed about various healing practices and modalities is generally through my own experiential investigations.

Part of my PRACTICE was to notice birds on the road. Some stunned, some dead. I had to stop and honour them in some way - usually a visual karakia or a song. Usually I moved them to a place I considered more dignified, even if that was just grass on the side of the road.

My personal PRACTICE is called whakamanu. In te ao Māori, birds are kaitiaki and messengers of multiple realms - think

Pīwaiwaka who alerted Hinenuiitepō that Māui was trying to invade her

Kōtare, the sentry of the pā

Ruru/Popoia, guardian of Rarohenga alongside Pekapeka

Kereru, a shapeshifter chosen by Māui to follow his mother to Rarohanga

Karoro, sacrifice to Rehua

ETCETCETC

Rerenga o te Kahurangi. These wings were gifted to me still attached to the manu after it had been hit and killed on a road in Heretaunga. I took them through a whakamanu ritual where the wings were severed, cleaned and lovingly preserved. They are both attached to native river wood from the Rangitīkei awa, collected with mana whenua consent. The combination of the mauri involved in these pieces speaks to a particular story in my own whakapapa narrative.