TāNE MOTUMOTU 'Tāne separated'

New Zealand painter / prophet Colin McCahon, in the fifth panel of his 1958 'Northland Panels', suggested calligraphically that Te Tai Tokerau was, 'a landscape with too few lovers.' This work is for those who love the land and our natural surrounds in this country.

The title here suggests that in Aotearoa today nature is consigned to islands of flora, fauna and bird life. Even important national treasures like Waipoua Forest are insular ecosystems involving Tangata Whenua, Crown and Private stakeholder interests. This video, like the 2023 exhibition of paintings after which it is named,?explores this biodiversity - once solely consigned by āku tūpuna to the domain of Tāne - in its' contemporary context.

The landscapes and native plants, trees and birds featured throughout this clip are representative of multiple contexts and travels throughout open and built environments around Aotearoa. The accompanying native birdsong is organised in the following order: he korimako, he tītī, he ngirungiru, he tui, he pōpokotea, he korimako, he kākāpō, he kiwi, he pīwakwaka. Towards the end of the clip there are several beautiful dawn choruses.

These recordings are all available on the Te Papa Atawhai site under birdsongs and calls. The planetary movements that features in stages are largely the movements of the Eta Aquarid meteor showers of Rongomai 'Haley's Comet' viewed on 5/6 May 2022 out at Tāwharanui Park.?

The physical locations involved are Tāmaki and elsewhere: ōwairaka, Morningside, Takaparawhau, Cornwallis - whanga Manukau, Ihumātao, Mangere, Silo Park, Wynyard Quarter, Tāwharanui Regional Park, Tongariro National Park, Te Aurere, Taipa, Purerua Peninsula, Kerikeri, Rainbow Springs, Rotorua,?and?Tapu te Ranga, Island Bay, Waikoropupū Springs, Tākaka Valley.

The concluding whakataukī notes: 'When one red fern frond falls, another takes its place.' I believe there is hope that collectively we can help regenerate the land and nurture the flora, fauna and bird life that need kaitiakitanga.

All photography, film clips and painting are by Rangihīroa unless otherwise credited.?