Playing nicely with others : an exegesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
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Date
2021
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Open Access Location
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Massey University
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Abstract
The following text is a reflection of myself and of my making process. Not only in the finished thing, but in the way it has been created too. Initially it isn't a clear picture, it pulls ideas and constraints and external influences together like plaited threads. Not one at a time, but building and overlapping with each pass. By the end of the reading the sense for who I am, where I come from and the all that my practice encompasses is apparent. It's a vibe, man. I have employed a methodology of whanaukataka, because that is how I engage with the world. My life is one shared with others, others are integral to my practice, and it is in serving and sharing with others that I find my sense of purpose and being. It would be a strange thing for me to produce the content for a text on my own because I do not do anything on my own. Similarly this text is not a linear account of what has been, much like how whakapapa is not a linear account of what has been. It is all that has been, all together, all at once that allows everything that could be to become. The main narrative of this text is a conversation between myself, Ioana Gordon-Smith and Natalie Jones. Ioana (Faleula, Le'auva'a) is a curator and arts writer in Aotearoa and is currently Curator Māori Pacific at Pātaka Art + Museum in Porirua. Natalie (Ngāti Kahungunu, Rangitāne, Ngāi Tahu) is a curator and arts practitioner based in Pōneke. We sat at my kitchen table one Saturday night and together they helped me to plait these threads together. Manaaki and tautoko from my partner, James, who fuelled the conversation. Side notes in a generous margin give room for the many edits and comments of the others who have read this text, alongside excerpts from additional conversations recorded while working on this project and my own voice in a concurrent dialogue with the main conversation. Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari kē he toa takitini
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Keywords
Māori Masters Thesis