Kahu Whakaahua cloak
(2022-2023)
Medium
inkjet prints, cotton, linen, emu feathers
Measurements
148.0 × 90.6 × 44.5 cm (overall)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Purchased, Victorian Foundation for Living Australian Artists, 2023
© Kirsten Lyttle
Gallery location
The Ancient World
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
The making of Dr Kirsten Lyttle’s Kahu Whakaahua was a complex process of construction. She first handwove a cloak from emu, goose and pheasant feathers, then photographed it in 459 separate images. Using customary Māori techniques, she then wove these photographs together to form a new cloak at the exact scale of a traditional Māori garment. Of Māori descent and living in Australia, Lyttle asks whether Māori weavers living away from their homelands are ‘bound to the same cultural materiality constraints, concerning preservation of culture’ and how new technologies such as digital imaging might be combined with Indigenous customary practices without damage or loss.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Melbourne, Victoria
Accession Number
2023.189
Department
Australian Photography