Ashleigh Taupaki (Ngāti Hako, Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāti Kahungunu) – The Usual Cries of Welcome, 2026

Along the path from the gates of Les Grandes Locos to the main building, a woman’s voice rings out in a karanga, a Māori ceremonial call of welcome. As the call carries across the site, synchronised gunshots sound from multiple points, retracing the approach of Ngāti Hako members summoned before a rūnanga, or pan-tribal council, in 1879. They fired into the air to announce their arrival and their refusal to disown the shooting of a government surveyor who had entered their Hauraki land despite repeated warnings. The survey would have prepared the land for subdivision and sale. Ngāti Hako is Taupaki’s iwi, or tribal community. Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Māorilanguage agreement signed in 1840 by Māori chiefs and representatives of the British Crown, affirmed Māori authority and self-determination, yet Britain proclaimed sovereignty that same year. Māori resistance to land seizure and colonial encroachment has continued ever since.

Ashleigh Taupaki examines relationships to whenua through installation, drawing and research. Working with minimalism and text, she addresses histories of extraction and dispossession while reasserting the authority of whānau, hapū and iwi. Her work is grounded in specific sites and archival records, where material and narrative remain closely linked. Extending beyond documentation, she proposes forms that measure loss and register absence, opening questions around restitution, responsibility and the long temporalities of land.