wet_land - Lisa Clunie & Thorsten Hoppe, photospace Gallery, 5-20 March 2021

Image from wet_land - Lisa Clunie and Thorsten Hoppe

Artist talk, Saturday 20th March, at noon. All welcome.

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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This exhibition was supported by Creative New Zealand

Image from wet_land - Lisa Clunie and Thorsten Hoppe

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.

Image from wet_land - Lisa Clunie and Thorsten Hoppe

Artist info:

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).

Image from wet_land - Lisa Clunie and Thorsten Hoppe

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