The Headlands Await Your Coming.
In Te Ao Maori, Ahi kaa is a cornerstone principle of land rights. In an era during which urban drift and migration abroad depopulates small rural communities, the people who remain on tribal land continue the values of a centuries-old practice called ahi-kaa-roa, literally the long burning fires of occupation. Others return seasonally or when occasions call, to contribute to keeping marae ‘warm’ through usage. This body of work approaches marae and surrounding tribal lands as a lived space in which intergenerational use keeps the fires burning.
In Te Ao Maori, Ahi kaa is a cornerstone principle of land rights. In an era during which urban drift and migration abroad depopulates small rural communities, the people who remain on tribal land continue the values of a centuries-old practice called ahi-kaa-roa, literally the long burning fires of occupation. Others return seasonally or when occasions call, to contribute to keeping marae ‘warm’ through usage. This body of work approaches marae and surrounding tribal lands as a lived space in which intergenerational use keeps the fires burning.