A R A P E T A / Wai Ching Chan

Pātai/ Maan Taai 問題 (2018)

7 min 44 secSingle channel / Digital Video / Colour / Silent

A collaboration between A R A P E T A and Wai Ching Chan, Pātai/ Maan Taai 問題 is visual poetry that reveals a wananga the artists’ had activated in Whangateau Aotearoa (The ancestral home of A R A P E T A). The piece draws upon the narratives of their friendship as a space for cross-cultural exchange and the coexistence of two cultural groups. Given its name, Pātai (meaning to inquire in Te Reo) and Maan Taai 問題 (telling to question in Cantonese), the wānanga brings forward both of the artists’ questions around relationship building and dynamics between Tauiwi and Tangata Whenua.

Artist Statement

Biographies: A R A P E T A and Wai Ching Chan are hoa and close companions connected through art and culture. Reflecting on the current social dynamics between tauiwi and Tangata Whenua Māori, the two hope their friendship will open up a dialogue about the coexistence of the two cultural groups.

Wai is a recent BFA(Hons) graduate from Elam School of Fine Arts. Her research is influenced by discourses around Cultural Studies, Social Studies, Postcolonial theory, diaspora and displacement. Currently, she is navigating her research around being tauiwi.

Credits & notes

Shot in Whangateau, Aotearoa.

Pātai/ Maan Taai 問題 was first presented in the exhibition a temple, a commons, and a cave in 2018 as part of the AAAH2018, Home Movies in 2019 at the AURA Festival of Artists Moving Images, and Masons Screen 2020.

The artists also take the time to acknowledge and give thanks to their whānau and hoa, A R A P E T A’s kāinga and whānau whose whenua the wānanga was activated and nurtured.

    Other works by A R A P E T A

    A man in a red and black flannel and beanie is walking along rocks at the coast. There are mountains and clouds in the distance.
    A R A P E T A

    Te Orokoomaa (2022)

    In Te Orokoomaa, the artist A R A P E T A depicts the ceremonial act of collecting koowhatu koomaa (greywacke stones) at their kaainga Whakatiiwai Aotearoa (the artist's ancestral home).

    Te Orokoomaa
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