Making Spaces | Elam artist talk series: Shannon Te Ao

What was or could be today (again)

In this lecture Te Ao will trace a trajectory through his recent work that considers the relationship between filmic space, artistic imagination and live experience. Over several years Te Ao has explored the overlay between his own lived geography and the imagery captured within his work. Recent works in this vein have, for the artist, underlined the significance of this calibration and the political efficacy in “going home.”

Join us on campus as Te Ao shares his perspective on the intersection of art, film, and personal journey.

About the artist: Shannon Te Ao (Ngāti Tūwharetoa)

Te Ao's works traverse the mediums of live performance, writing, photography and videoed performance. Whakataukī (proverbs), waiata (song) and poetry have become resources for Te Ao in his ongoing exploration of language, ways of knowing and the nuances of communication.

Te Ao’s elegiac images and installations explore dynamics of indigeneity, language, and life. Te Ao’s works enact a compression wherein past and present co-exist, and daily life is inextricably linked to multifarious social, cultural, and philosophical histories.

Te Ao won the Walters Prize in 2016. Since then, he has completed a Master of Fine Arts from Whiti o Rehua School of Art, Massey University, and continues to exhibit nationally and internationally.

Image: Shannon Te Ao, still from what was or could be today (again), 2019. Single channel video with sound. 11 min 38 sec. Cinematography Iain Frengley. Sound Te Awhina Kaiwai-Wanikau, Fraser Walker. Production James Tapsell-Kururangi, Michael Bridgman. Courtesy of the artist and Hopkinson Mossman.