Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum presents Object Below a new sculptural installation by Rotuman artist Sofia Tekela-Smith, developed during her time as the Museum’s inaugural Matafatafa Aho Pacific Artist in Residence.

Object Below explores Rotuman ancestral knowledge, cultural identity and the significance of whale teeth in Pacific traditions. The work draws on Tekela-Smith’s research into the Museum’s Documentary Heritage Pacific collections. During the three-month residency, delivered in partnership with Creative New Zealand, Tekela-Smith examined manuscripts, photographs and records relating to Rotuma and the wider Pacific, as well as objects held in the Museum’s collections.

Central to her research was the cultural significance of ‘al ne tolo (whale teeth), which hold deep spiritual and ancestral meaning for Rotuman people. Revered as symbols of chiefly status, whale teeth marked significant occasions and upheld relationships between people, ancestors and the ocean.

In Object Below, Tekela-Smith reinterprets the form of whale teeth through blown glass, working with glass artist Stephen Bradbourne. The sculpture also incorporates materials from across the Pacific, including vintage purē (cowrie shells), black pearls, freshwater pearls, mother-of-pearl, seeds, feathers and other natural fibres.

The installation features a soundscape developed with Tekela-Smith’s son, musician and producer Navakatoa (Noa Records). It draws on her memories, the sounds of traditional materials in her hands and her time in the Museum’s reading room.