Fiona Pardington Te Huia Kai-Manawa

Dr Fiona Pardington (Ngāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Ngāti Kahungunu, Clan Cameron of Erracht) is one of Aotearoa’s most distinguished photographers, recognised and regarded by national and international audiences alike. An alumnas of Auckland’s Elam School of Fine Arts, Pardington has a practice that is identifiable by the velvety cadences she renders, and her interest in using photographs as a means to remember the past.

Drawing on museum objects and native wildlife, as well as her own whakapapa, Pardington explores the history of Aotearoa, particularly the country’s colonial relationship with Europe. With her highly staged, controlled arrangements, Pardington evokes still life. Her use of symbolism and melancholic themes aligns with the seventeenth-century European vanitas tradition, wherein the transience of life is emphasised. Pardington handles her subject matter with reverence and pathos, drawing attention to the forgotten, pairing memory with mourning, and beauty with demise.

Te Huia Kai-Manawa is a marvellous example of Pardington’s practice. The silvergelatin photograph, with its stark black-and-white palette, is an austere, poignant image. Nestled on dark, velvety cloth, the single huia tail-feather stands upright. As the eye traces the artwork, the iridescent ink-dark pigment of the huia feather transforms to an ethereal ivory at the tip.

Within te ao Māori, the huia feather is a revered item that symbolises mana, nobility and wisdom, and was often worn around the neck or in the hair of rangatira. Pardington’s reference to the now-extinct huia emphasises the impact colonialism had on Aotearoa’s natural environment, and the cost the introduction of predators and humans had on endemic species.

The contrast of the huia feather against the abyss of dark velvet evokes the sense that the feather – like the huia it came from – is being consumed by the void of history and memory. When the focused quality of the light is paired with the velvet backdrop, the photograph becomes reminiscent of a museum display. This, it seems, is telling of the status of the huia; the endemic species is lost to the annals of history. Within Te Huia Kai-Manawa, Pardington masterfully memorialises the distinctive feather, intimately conveys the significance to Māori culture, and empathetically bridges the past and present.

In this work, and in her wider lexicon, Pardington acknowledges what has been lost, while addressing what needs to be conserved in current times. Pardington presents objects for contemporary audiences, seeming to summon the hau of the subject matter. This artwork is a celebration and a mourning, a rejuvenation of traditional art forms, and an example of Pardington’s photographic ability for conceptual elegance and technical skill. Te Huia KaiManawa is a reclaiming of heritage, breathing life into the forgotten, situating the past in the present.