Early Polynesian navigators gave names to the places they encountered as a reminder of the spiritual threshold between creation and reality, because they regarded geographic and spiritual origin as mutually similar. Whenua Fonua ‘Enua explores the significance of name and place, and the importance of those markers that connect us to our past and highlight the characteristics of our present.

Through new paintings and this companion publication made with Brendan Kitto, the exhibition draws the viewer into a conversation about the way history is written onto a landscape, as people remember and retell stories of what has taken place and imagine what could be.