This work by Shona Rapira Davies is a companion piece to her major installation Ko Te Kihikihi Taku Ingoa. It is a memorial to the children and people of Parihaka – a pacifist settlement that was invaded by colonial forces in 1881 in the wake of the Taranaki wars and confiscations of Māori land by the government. Here, Davies uses the kawakawa plant as a symbol for healing and remembrance. Kawakawa, with its distinctive heart-shaped, caterpillar-bitten leaves, has long been valued by Māori for its use in removing tapu, as a symbol of death and as rokoā. The title of the work references a verse in the Bible that encourages humans to learn from the whenua and the animals:

But ask the animals, and they will teach you,

or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;

or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,

or let the fish in the sea inform you.

tapu ~ sacredness, or something that is prohibited, restricted

rokoā ~ remedy, medicine, medicinal plant

whenua ~ land

He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil (from August 2024)