wet_land - an exhibition by Lisa Clunie and Thorsten Hoppe - is showing at Photospace Gallery from 5th to 20th March, 2021.
Interview with Lisa Clunie on Radio New Zealand, Nights programme 10 March, 2021

Ten minutes north of Whangārei lies what used to be one of Aotearoa’s largest wetlands- Te Repo o Hikurangi (the Hikurangi Swamp). Regularly passed through by tourists as they head to more illustrious destinations, the Hikurangi Swamp can hardly be recognized as a swamp these days. Some prefer to call it floodplains, both in recognition of what it is naturally compelled to do, whilst also referencing that the land no longer holds its water. After all - what is a wetland without water to keep its feet wet?

Collaborating artists Lisa Clunie and Thorsten Hoppe ask us to draw our attention to this special place, through their exhibition wet_land. Responding to their local environment Clunie and Hoppe spent time in the repo/swamp photographing and recording it in all of its nuances. Central to wet_land are the stories shared, the result of the artists engaging with their community to weave together a narrative that talks about the complexity of place, kaitiakitanga (guardianship), land management and human intervention - a narrative that spans generations of memories, hopes and dreams. Over 90% of Aotearoa’s wetlands were drained during the course of the past century, and this practice is continued today. Although wet_land is intimately tied to Hikurangi itself, this exhibition relates to wetland preservation and land management throughout Aotearoa. The drainage of Te Repo o Hikurangi along with other repo that were designated as Drainage Districts in early 20th C, facilitated greater possibility for the Government to ‘enrich the Dominion’. The artists ask “since transformation is an ongoing process and an essential part of our existence, then what can we do in the present moment to learn from the past and to build for a better future”. Now is the time to reflect and rethink what value and these riches mean, and what they come at the expense of.
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The sheer size of the Hikurangi catchment and floodplains make it a valuable part of our ecosystem. It was an important food basket, a place for gathering resources and a place for respite for local hapū. However, a difference in value sets and perspectives between Māori and European settlers saw increasing human intervention, to ‘cultivate’ what was deemed ‘unproductive’ land. The golden promise of higher yields of butterfat glowed on the horizon. These interventions straightened the once meandering Wairua river that made its way through the repo; channels were cut, oxbows severed, control banks built, and pump stations installed. It can be argued that this shift from thinking about the awa (river) as a living entity to that of an asset or a hindrance that needed to be ‘managed; has separated us from it.  Mana whenua talk of their loss, not only of ecology and sustenance but also of spirit. The river that sustains us- and connects us all- now effectively a canal- one that some consider to be an open wound.
 
In wet_land Clunie and Hoppe try to present these issues in an open and non-judgemental way. Talking in polarities between groups of people does not bring them to the table, nor does it encourage mutual understanding. Clunie and Hoppe’s engagement with the community highlighted that every person has unique perspective and knowledge to contribute to the conversation. The artists do not seek to provide answers, rather wet_land asks the audience to consider their relationship to the environment, and how we can work constructively with nature and one another.

'wet_land has been dedicated to the late Allan Halliday (Ngati Hau, Ngā  Kaitiaki O Ngā Wai Māori).
 - Lisa Clunie, February 2021.

Thorsten Hoppe is a historian (Master in History, Linguistic and East European Studies from University of Hamburg, 2005), musician, writer and sound artist. He lives in Hikurangi, but is originally from Hamburg, Germany, where he worked in different social projects with a focus on community art. In Hamburg, he helped to build up the Werkhaus, where he worked in cooperation with a range of international artists from Europe, engaging with young homeless people and refugees. At the Werkhaus Thorsten organised concerts for improvised music. He has also played in several other projects throughout Europe. Selected projects include: Tumorchester, Mono Lüüd, TBC_Czepoks, and Doz Monsantoz. He has recorded and published mainly experimental music. In New Zealand Thorsten plays in a few music projects. He has published several texts in Germany, including travel and cultural guides, and texts about the various art and cultural projects he has been involved with.

Thorsten Hoppe - Artist Statement / Philosophy
A focus of my art practice and work has always been the social dimension of our existence. Direct interaction with other people and dialogue are of great importance. We cannot define ourselves without seeing and reflecting the social context we are living in. The history we share with others gives us shape.
The music I make is often improvised. Together with other musicians I like to create music which is situated in the moment. In doing so special atmospheres and emotions come spontaneously to light.

Lisa Clunie is an artist who lives and works in Te Tai Tokerau, Aotearoa (NZ). Lisa was awarded a Masters of Philosophy from the Australian National University in 2014 and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Otago Polytechnic in 1996. Key interests of Lisa’s include the relationship between art and science, and photography to drawing. Lisa exhibits regularly and currently teaches photography and drawing at NorthTec in Whangārei.

Lisa Clunie - Artist Statement / Philosophy
My photographic practice is largely analogue based. Underpinned by an interest in phenomenology, I consider the nature of being and our complex perceptions of time and space. Communicating the materiality of photography and our experience of time is a recurrent focus in my work. These ideas are often visualised through abstraction. I try to create a space where the play between abstraction and representation can signal the transformative processes that we all experience in the world. Through my art-making I share some of the wonderment and curiosity that I find in nature and the everyday.

Previous exhibitions at Photospace Gallery include 'Diagram of forces' (2014) and 'Terrain' (2016, with Ellen Smith, Matt Higgins).

Below - Andrew Paul Wood on wet_land. Essay commissioned by Whangarei Art Museum Te Manawa Toi

Hidden in Plain Site - photographs of Naenae by John Pennington, shows at Photospace Gallery from 4th to 27th February, 2021. The opening is on Thursday, February 4th, 5pm-7pm, along with Mary Hutchinson's exhibition 'Windscreen Washers 2012-2018'.

The work in this exhibition: Hidden in Plain Site is a selection of work from a five-year (ongoing) project. Stylistically, the work incorporates documentary, portraiture, and street photography that aims to reflect some of the realities of this multi-layered suburb.
 
Viewed from a contemporary perspective, Naenae might seem like just another ordinary working-class Hutt Valley suburb. Such a view would fail to register the rich historical, social, urban design and optimistic political organising that underpinned the early development of the suburb. Built to house soldiers returning from WWII, Naenae incorporated elements from the English garden city movement, cooperative politics, the modernist designs of the Austrian architect Ernst Plischke, and an optimistic vision for a different type of communal living. Constructed in the aftermath of a global crisis and reflecting the desire to emerge into a different kind of world, perhaps there are lessons to be learned from Naenae as we think through and beyond our own current global crises.
 
John Pennington is a Wellington-based photographer. He is a member of the Photobook NZ organising committee. His photographic interests include rocks, urban spaces, and going out into the world. Hidden in Plain Site is his first exhibition at Photospace Gallery.

'Windscreen Washers 2012-2018' is showing at Photospace Gallery from 30th January to 27th February, 2021, in gallery room 3. The opening function is Thursday 4th February, 5pm-7pm, along with John Pennington's exhibition in room 1, 'Hidden in Plain Site'.

"Windscreen Washers is a black and white series I have been making since 2012, though the initial photo that year was taken before I started intentionally doing street photographs. All except one of the images were taken in my home city of Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington.

"I got seriously into my street and social documentary photography during a visit to the UK in 2014. That year, during a visit to Tooting Broadway Market, London, I was excited to see their community art exhibition boards. In 2019 I exhibited some of the current car windscreen washers images there, together with a life-sized 'paste-up' portrait of ‘Jack’ .

"I am interested in people who are sometimes regarded as being on the fringes of our communities, and am inspired by JR, BENT, and other street artists; thus in addition to making fine art prints, in 2017 I started making outdoor life-sized, photocopier printed, ephemeral 'paste-ups'.
 
"I have previously exhibited other black and white series and contributed colour work to Photospace's 2020 online exhibition 'A Month of Sundays' during Covid19 lockdown . My four self published black and white street photography books can be seen on my website, with copies for sale. I also make free photo-zines; 'clenescrenezene' (edition of 30)  which accompany this exhibition.'

- Mary Hutchinson, January 2021