Natalie Robertson
Two hundred-year-old kānuka trees, Te Tairāwhiti; 1-3. (2018)
Photographic print on Fujiflex Crystal Archive Printing Paper
Whakaarahia ēnei rākau — Raise these trees up!
Natalie Robertson
12 June – 3 August
Photography Gallery
This exhibition draws inspiration from the 1870s stories Ngā korero a Mohi Ruatapu. In the story of Rata, he transgressed the tapu of Tane's great forest trees without seeking ancestral authority. To repair the felled tree, Te Tini o Hākuturi—the multitudes of forest protectors—used karakia, correct incantations, including the words: "E tū tama ota, whakaarahia ēnei rākau! Stand there green—let this tree be lifted up!"
In healthy forest ecosystems, ubiquitous species thrive. However, our forest giants are dying due to possum and deer browsing, or failing to propagate because of understory grazing. Other species such as myrtles face threats from climate-induced diseases, while fires endanger mature tree stands.
The photographs of two-hundred-year-old kānuka demonstrate they can live much longer than expected when left undisturbed. The land where ancient kahikatea trees stand was, until recently, grazed by cows. They had no understorey and no chance for seeds to develop into saplings beneath them. Now fenced off, replanting has begun, and seedlings are appearing.
In Aotearoa, Poutūterangi (March) and Paengawhāwhā (April) mark the season when forest tree fruits and seeds fully ripen—an ideal time for collecting. The photographs show sisters Ngahuia and Pōhatu Matenga gathering Tōtara (Podocarpus tōtara) seeds on the slopes of Tītīraupenga and Pūreora Maunga. In 2016, Ngāti Te Maunga, Tūwharetoa, principal kaitiaki iwi of these maunga, gifted tōtara logs for new whakairo for the whare tīpuna Pōkai at Tīkapa-a-Hinekopeka Marae, carved by Lionel Matenga of Te Whānau a Pōkai-Pōhatu. Refurbished, Pōkai reopened in 2018, uplifting the marae's mana.
The seed collectors—Lionel and Te Aroha Matenga's daughters—connect the whakapapa of mature trees to the whakairo, embodying their lineage of Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Te Maunga, Tūwharetoa. Their collected seeds aim to contribute to regenerating tōtara, continuing the cycle of forest protection and renewal.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Natalie Robertson
Ngāti Pōkai, Ngāti Porou, Clann Dhònnchaidh
Born Kawerau, Aotearoa New Zealand
Lives and works in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa New Zealand
Centring Waiapu River, the ancestral river of Ngāti Porou—world-famous for its erosion —much of Natalie Robertson’s creative practice and research is based in Te Tai Rāwhiti, her East Coast Ngāti Porou homelands, to advance Māori counter-narratives to settler-colonialism. Natalie is a photographer, moving-image artist, writer and Associate Professor at Auckland University of Technology. In 2022, she graduated with a PhD from the University of Auckland for her thesis, ‘Tātara e maru ana: Renewing ancestral connections with the sacred rain cape of Waiapu Kōkā Hūhua’. Natalie contributed extensively to the book Hei Taonga Mā Ngā Uri Whakatipu: Treasures for the Rising Generation: The Dominion Museum Ethnological Expeditions 1919–1923, published in 2021 by Te Papa Press. Recent exhibitions include ‘He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil’ (2024–26) at Christchurch Art Gallery; ‘Hīnaki: Contemplation of a Form’ (2023–24) at Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington; and ‘Tātara e Maru Ana – The Sacred Rain Cape of Waiapu’ (2022) at Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery, Wellington. Alongside Graeme Atkins, Natalie is a principal lead in AWA (Artists for Waiapu Action). Their project He Uru Mānuka, He Uru Kānuka (2024) recently exhibited at the 11Th Asia Pacific Triennial (APT11), Gallery of Modern Art in Meanjin / Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.