Kōrimurimu expands on Neil Pardington’s (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Ngāti Kahungunu, Pākehā) exploration of rimurapa (bull kelp) for its formal, cultural and relational properties. Within Kāi Tahu / Kāti Māmoe traditions, rimurapa is embedded in the knowledge and practices of mahika kai. Gathered and prepared to make pōhā, traditionally used to carry and preserve tītī (muttonbird), rimurapa belongs to a living system connecting material, place and intergenerational knowledge.

Through large-scale, gothic-inflected photographs, Pardington brings this understanding into conversation with Western scientific traditions of collecting, classification and representation. Isolated and fixed within the photographic image, in black and white, each rimurapa presents as a specimen, yet resists being understood solely as an object of study. Its significance remains embedded within relationships through which knowledge and care are held, practised and transmitted.

Kōrimurimu considers different acts of holding and preservation, presenting photography and rimurapa as related, yet significantly different forms of containment. In isolating rimurapa from their supporting ecosystems, carefully arranging them and fixing them within an image, Pardington asks what is retained and what might be altered, displaced or lost in the process. In Kōrimurimu, each rimurapa is both a distinct body and part of a larger body of work to which Pardington is connected through his practice and whakapapa.