The seven heitiki (pounamu pendants) in these photographs are now held by the Auckland Museum, but they came originally from Te Waipounamu / the South Island and all are connected to Fiona Pardington’s Kāi Tahu iwi. Traditionally worn close to the heart, heitiki are sacred symbols of fertility with great spiritual significance. In Te Ao Māori, the Māori world, clear divisions are not made between past, present and future, and ancestors are considered actively present. With Mauria mai, tono ano (which means to bring to light, to claim again), Pardington wanted to not only record the appearance of these old and precious taonga (treasures), but to draw out their sense of powerful connection with the past.
(Now, Then, Next: Time and the Contemporary, 15 June 2019 – 8 March 2020)