Shannon Te Ao’s evocative installation, Ia rā, ia rā (rere runga, rere raro) – Everyday (I fly high, I fly low) will be presented in Gwangju, South Korea, as Aotearoa New Zealand’s contribution to the 15th Gwangju Biennale Pavilion (2024). The Pavilion was first mounted in 2018 with three participating organisations, growing to nine participants in 2023. This year, 32 countries will participate: Argentina, Austria, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Thailand and Vietnam.

Te Ao’s contribution is curated by Karl Chitham. It will re-present a work originally commissioned by Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art, in a new, immersive iteration that plays out across imagery and a soundscape—complementing the theme of the main exhibition, selected by curator Nicholas Bourriaud: Pansori, a soundscape of the 21st century. 

Ia rā, ia rā (rere runga, rere raro) reckons with the present period of brewing and erupting unrest, nodding to the tiny and turbulent tīwakawaka, known for skirting the realms of birth and death and transporting messages between them. Two young men feature in Te Ao’s work, a series of thirty-six still images, their movements hazy and their bodies blurred in an intimation of the tīwakawaka’s erratic flight. A pao (song), composed and performed by Kurt Komene, accompanies the imagery, described as both “a script and score”.

This presentation is made possible through a partnership between Te Tuhi, the Dowse Art Museum and the Office for Contemporary Art Aotearoa. The exhibition will open on 7 September and continue until 1 December 2024.