Ziarah

Ko tā *Ziarah*, 2018, he whai i te rapunga o Bridget Reweti i te takotoranga o te *ari‘i* (tohunga), te kaiwhakatere a Tupaia nō Tahiti, rāua ko tāna irāmutu a Taiata; kua takea te taitara mai i te kupu Arapi e whakamahia ana i Bahasa Indonesia – he kupu motuhake mō te rapunga tapu ki tētahi urupā.

Ka haere a Tupaia rāua ko Taiata mā runga i te *Endeavour* a Kapene Kuki, ā, he mahi nui tāna hei kaiwhakamāori i ngā kōrero a te tira haere me ngā kōrero o ngā iwi i tūponotia. Heoi anō, ka mate a Tupaia rāua ko Taiata i te taenga atu ki Batavia (Jakarta ināianei), ka tanumia ki reira. Ka ahu atu a Reweti rātou ko Safir Islami he kaitiaki whare tūrama, ko Edwina Brennan te kaiwhakamāori, ko ētahi kaihī nō te haukāinga, ki te moutere o Demar Besar i Indonesia.

Puakina ai ngā kōrero e whakaatu ai ko ngā take o te moana, ko ngā hauropi hoki, kei te hono i ngā pūkete hītori a Tupaia ki te moutere o Demar Besar. I te nukuhanga o ngā mātātuhi taurea ki te pikitia kotahi, kei te whakaahua te kaikōrero i ngā rua ingoakore, ko te tikanga ngā rua o Tupaia rāua ko Taiata, ā, ka puaki mai te kōrero mō te moana nui e hono nei i a tātou ahakoa te wā, ahakoa te wāhi, he hononga ki ngā atua.

*Ziarah*, 2018 traces Bridget Reweti’s pilgrimage to locate the resting place of Tahitian *ari‘i* (high priest) and navigator, Tupaia and his nephew Taiata, and borrows its title from the Arabic term used in Bahasa Indonesia which describes an ancestral or spiritual pilgrimage to a gravesite.

Tupaia and Taiata travelled on Captain Cook’s ship *Endeavour*, where Tupaia played a significant role as an interpreter between the Cook and the people he encountered. Tupaia and Taiata died when the expedition reached Batavia (now Jakarta) and were buried. Reweti set out, guided by lighthouse keeper Safir Islami, translator Edwina Brennan and local fishers, to the uninhabited Demar Besar island in Indonesia.

The unfolding dialogue which references the ocean and ecological issues links historical records of Tupaia to Demar Besar island. As the multiple images shift to a single scene the narrator describes the island and the unmarked graves believed to belong to Tupaia and Taiata, and we are told that the ocean’s expansiveness connects us across time and place and to atua (gods).

To find out which artworks are available for print requests and reproduction please enquire here. This service only applies to select artworks in the Gallery's collection.