Wednesday 5 October 2011

home and away

That's the title of the talk I'm going to be giving with my mate Rick at the McMaster museum in Hamilton Ontario later this month... Remember how I wrote a while ago about going to a museum and seeing a portrait of a Maori woman there? Well, Rick is going to talk about his relations who are also in the museum (he's Mohawk, and the famous 4 portraits of the 'Four Kings' who went over on a diplomatic mission to London from this part of the world in the earlier 18th century are being exhibited at the museum too) and I'll talk about the one from home. There's also a portrait of Omai (you know, the first Polynesian guy in London back in 1774) alongside the others...

We're calling our talk 'Home and Away' because of all the layers of travel and mobility and connection and proximity contained in this space...

There's Rick, not far from his home (Six Nations Reserve)... talking about his relatives from here and further away... who went to London... and were painted and who portraits have now travelled nearby and far away... and there's me, far away from home (Aotearoa, Te Whanganui a Tara)... talking about a woman who was painted at home and whose portrait is now kept in Canada... but has travelled from Ottawa to Hamilton to be nearer to, well, to me... and to Omai... and the Kings...

Ooooh the layers!

When I'm home, I'm always still a little bit far away... and when I'm far away, I find that home manages to find me to keep me company. Home and Away. Not Home or Away. Both.

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