Artist Talk: Nikau Hindin

Listen to Nikau Hindin talk about her major solo exhibition, Kōkōrangi ki Kōkōwai.

Kōkōrangi ki Kōkōwai is Nikau’s journey in understanding Maramataka (the Māori lunar calendar), through the revival of traditional aute practices. Using aute plants she harvests in Hawai’i, Hindin strips, beats and soaks the fibres into a cloth-like material, and inscribes it with patterns derived from tukutuku and tāniko, using kōkōwai (red ochre pigment) and ngārahu (charcoal pigment).

Speaking about her work, Nikau says, “Kōkōrangi ki Kōkōwai is about bringing celestial bodies into the physical, documenting the movement of the moon and stars to find direction.