Video Performance. 04:21. 

 

Our lives and the life of the sea are braided together… here we are islanders, we live because the sea lives. (Living Sea, 1995)

​

Ariki Vaine (Cheifness Woman) is a two-part video series that is part of Ranginui + Papatūānuku. The work is a Cook Island dance reflecting the story and importance of Mother Earth. In relation to the installation, the video talks to the importance of cultural linage and the connection to our ancestors. Woman in my family have been vital models in my upbringing, and Ariki Vaine displays a graciousness toward the leaders of our culture. The work engages with the disconnection of being biracial, and the importance of connecting with our heritage to understand self. Layered with visuals of the nature within the Islands, the work highlights the importance of Mother Nature within the Polynesian culture. The storytelling dance replicates the movement of the palm trees, ocean and land, and represents how we are all intertwined as one. 

The soundscape is a multifaceted concoction of cultural chants, oceanic sounds and movements of the land. The sound engages the audience to be immersed within the work and to be part of the performance. 

Overall, the work aims to educate the audience upon the importance of linage, and to hold on to the cultures that are being lost through a colonised world. 

​

Progress: Ariki Vaine 

​