Mwaen te utu (Garland for my family – Nikunau)
designed 2006; made 2016
Medium
venus shells (Venus sp.), stainless steel, rope, inkjet print
Measurements
(a-b) 140.0 × 174.5 × 15.5 cm (overall) (installed)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased NGV Foundation Patrons, 2016
© Chris Charteris
Gallery location
The Ancient World
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
In this work, Chris Charteris pays tribute to his Kiribati heritage. In 2012 he became the first member of his family to visit Kiribati and meet his extended family. On his return to New Zealand, Charteris produced the first in a series of monumental garlands, using shells collected near his home on the Coromandel Peninsula, south-east of Auckland. On Kiribati, shell is a limited resource, used to decorate dance costumes. Across the Pacific, shell is also fashioned into fine necklaces and, like flower leis, hung around photographs of loved ones.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Whitianga, New Zealand
Accession Number
2016.225.a-b
Department
Contemporary Design and Architecture