KŌIWI: performance by Victoria Hunt

KŌIWI is a durational performance by Māori-Australian dancer and choreographer Victoria Hunt, commissioned by the Art Gallery of New South Wales as part of the exhibition Dreamhome: Stories of Art and Shelter.

Through dance, sound, song, lighting and body adornment, this immersive new work continues the artist’s investigation into the story of her ancestral meeting house, Hinemihi.

KŌIWI takes us to the very foundation of the physical body, centring key Māori concepts of whakapapa (kinship), hau kāinga (the home-calling breath) and kawa mate (memories carried as you make your way home). Visitors will be welcomed into a contemplative environment where, in the play of shadows, we encounter an unveiling of sublime dreams and cosmological connections.

The work is performed by Hunt alongside two esteemed First Nations artists: Moe Clark, Métis multidisciplinary artist, vocalist and drum carrier (Turtle Island/Canada); and Rosie Te Rauawhea Belvie, Māori vocalist, haka custodian and performer (Aotearoa/New Zealand). It has been co-created with Boris Bagattini (objects and lighting design) and James Brown (sound design and composer).

KŌIWI 2023 was commissioned by the Art Gallery of New South Wales and supported by the Australia Council for the Arts, Create NSW and the Australian Research Council, with additional funds provided by the Neilson Foundation.

It is part of Precarious Movements: Choreography and the Museum, an Australian Research Council Linkage Project hosted by The University of New South Wales, in partnership with the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Monash University Museum of Art, National Gallery of Victoria, Tate UK and Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts. It was also supported through residency programs at the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies, University of Sydney and at Marrugeku.