New Acquisition

Aratohu by Lisa Reihana

Lisa Reihana Aratohu (still) 2025. UHD 2-channel video, sound, colour. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, commissioned by Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu Foundation, 2025

Aratohu is an extraordinary new film by artist Lisa Reihana (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, Ngāi Tūteauru, Ngāi Tūpoto). A surrealist fable told over the course of a single evening, Aratohu explores destructive influences and the potential for healing. For lead character Wairangi, a fun night out turns into a journey of self-discovery, as reality and hallucination blur and overlap. Following an encounter with Stealer, a sinister figure representing risk and temptation, Wairangi meets Aratohu, an ancestral being offering an alternative pathway, underpinned by renewed strength in her Māori identity.

Made in response to the worldwide opioid epidemic that is increasingly impacting communities in Aotearoa, Aratohu is a timeless moral tale that showcases Reihana’s expert interweaving of puppetry, animation, costuming and compelling storytelling. It is cinematic in scale and production, and a spectacular new addition to the Gallery’s collection.

Aratohu adds to a whakapapa of works by Reihana that whakamana atua and pūrākau Māori. It is one of three works by the artist included in Whāia te Taniwha, alongside A Māori Dragon Story (1995) and Marakihau (2001), all exploring the kaupapa of taniwha in different ways. The first acquisition from the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū Foundation’s Together endowment for collection development, Aratohu was commissioned in response to an invitation from the exhibition’s curators.

Related

Exhibition

Whāia te Taniwha