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Martin Awa Clarke Langdon

Untitled (whakanoa), 2016

Perspex, stainless steel, stone, wood, concrete, steel and plastic water bottles
700 x 550 x 1,500 mm

Untitled (whakanoa) comprises multiple components. Steel Y posts with water bottles attached are located at both ends of the foreshore urupā (burial ground) of Matiatia (Matietie), while a sculpture of water, stone, and timber rests near the pavilion. The work stems from a previous experience Langdon had at Matiatia, “an experience that involved a moment, a moment created by the sharing of knowledge. The revelation of the history of the site resulted in a feeling of a need for action relating to the necessary conduct in the area of urupā. The use of water for Whakanoa (removing tapu) is something I was shown as a kid at our whānau urupā in Raglan.”

Untitled (Whakanoa) invites audiences to wash stone and water over timber and contemplate the important yet unseen histories that are culturally entangled in the site. Langdon hopes that these ritual materials raise new reflections on past narratives of place, and encourage the use of water when leaving the Matiatia urupā out of mutual respect.

Martin Awa Clarke Langdon

born 1984, lives and works in Auckland
Tainui, Ngāi Tahu

Ko Karioi te Maunga, ko Waikato te awa, ko Tainui te waka, ko Tainui raua ko Ngāi Tahu te iwi, ko Poihakina te marae.

Martin Awa Clarke Langdon is a multidisciplinary artist, curator and educator whose work explores the tensions and opportunities of bicultural duality and what Langdon calls ‘the third space of conversation’. Langdon is also a co-director of The Roots Creative Entrepreneurs, a non-profit collective of creative entrepreneurs.

Martin Langdon has a Master of Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Arts at The University of Auckland. Recent exhibitions include: Te Ihu ō Mataoho, St Paul Street Gallery, AUT University Auckland (2016); National Contemporary Art Awards, Waikato Museum, Hamilton (2015), Shared Endeavour, Papakura Art Gallery, Auckland (2015) and Unstuck in Time, Te Tuhi, Auckland (2014). Publications on his work include Unfolding Kaitiakitanga: shifting the institutional space with biculturalism, St Paul St Gallery, AUT University (2016) and Unstuck in Time, Te Tuhi, Auckland (2014).