Maungarongo Te Kawa translates the Māori title for this work as ‘The Hull that Breaks the Dawn Horizon’. He made it in memory of all the men, including many of his friends, who died as the result of HIV/AIDS in the years before treatment was known or widely available. Maungarongo made a glittering, impossible-to-ignore vessel to carry away mamae (pain) or any sense of shame. “We, the survivors, captain our own waka and navigate our own voyage,” he has said.

“We sail towards our dreams with love, spirit, liberation, and style. As we journey through the ocean towards the horizon, a fine mist is created at the prow. It sprays up and covers the whole waka, and when the sun shines through, it creates a rainbow. A tohu of peace, connection, forgiveness, total abundance and eternal aroha. For all the ones that didn’t make it.”

(Perilous: Unheard Stories from the Collection, 6 August 2022- 21 July 2024)