Te Hā o Papatūānuku is a moving image artwork by Kāi Tahu and Kāti Māmoe artist Louise Pōtiki Bryant. The accompanying soundtrack was composed by Paddy Free. The work was commissioned in 2024 by Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū for the exhibition He Kapuka Oneone—A Handful of Soil. It is 11 minutes and 45 seconds long.

Te Hā o Papatūānuku is displayed in one of two gallery spaces where the works are all by Māori artists and focus on how Māori as takata whenua, the first peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand, relate to whenua, or land. Te Hā o Papatūānuku, which translates in te reo Māori to ‘the breath or essence of Papatūānuku’, was made after Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 devastated the area where the artist lives. The work considers the transformation of whenua by the movement of water through exploring the relationship between two atua wāhine, or female deities: Papatūānuku, the earth, and Parawhenuamea, fresh water who creates pathways over the land, shaping it beneath her as she moves.

Te Hā o Papatūānuku is projected onto the wall in a small, square gallery. The only light comes from the projector and a small spotlight on the wall-text. The projection covers about four metres of the far wall, which in total is about the width of a garage. A soft bench seat in the middle of the gallery provides a place to sit while you experience the work.

The work begins with abstracted, wave-like forms in cool blues, greens and golds emerging from black. After about two minutes these waves fade into loosely rendered white lines that flow horizontally across the wall, like veins or a braided river. These fade away to reveal the silhouette of a nude woman lying on her side, one leg folded over the other. She rocks gently from side to side, almost in a foetal position, one arm over her lower belly and one across her chest. Intermittently, her hands begin to move in a wiri, a shiver or tremble.

Behind the figure is a forest rendered in blue and green washes, like an animated watercolour painting. The silhouetted figure recedes into the background, and the forest turns a deep blue, with tall nīkau palms and twinkly, dappled light. More silhouetted figures appear, dancing slowly in tandem. As they and the nude figure fade in and out of view, the waves, leaves and twinkling lights move through them.

The dancing figures in the work are all the artist herself, an award-winning dancer and choreographer who often weaves together dance, animation and film. By using her own body, Pōtiki Bryant explores parallels between the evolving landscape and the changes women’s bodies undergo through different stages of life.

The natural imagery and colours, the dancing figures and the layered soundscape – which includes taoka puoro, or Māori instruments, birdsong, water sounds and breath – combine to create an immersive feeling of being in nature. If you could move into the work, it would feel like stepping into the forest, standing in the rain or swimming through kelp. If you could taste the work, it would be like drinking from a cold, mountain-fed river.