Ella Rerekura

Body of Remembering / WHO CALLS ME ON WHEN NO ONE IS HOME

30 Nov — 30 Nov

Digital collage, of foliage, drawings and the artist, text reading 'A Body of Remembering'
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Image: Ella Rerekura, A Body of Remembering, 2023, digital collage.

Ella guiding the workshop: Body of Remembering. Everyone sat together in the shade.
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Documentation- Body of Remembering, Ella Rerekura

Ella standing on the plot of grass where her family home once stood. a canvas draped over her shoulders, arms spread like a butterfly.
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Documentation- WHO CALLS ME ON WHEN NO ONE IS HOME, Ella Rerekura

Ella standing on the plot of grass where her family home once stood. a canvas draped over her shoulders, arms spread like a butterfly.
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Documentation- WHO CALLS ME ON WHEN NO ONE IS HOME, Ella Rerekura

Ella kneeling on the grass with her canvas wrapped around her
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Documentation- WHO CALLS ME ON WHEN NO ONE IS HOME, Ella Rerekura

Ella and the audience lined up along the edge of the foot path, Ella is about to guide everyone onto the space walking in backwards.
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Documentation- WHO CALLS ME ON WHEN NO ONE IS HOME, Ella Rerekura

The audience sitting on mats watching Ella perform. Ella is lunging forward with her hands planted on the ground, the sun glowing behind her
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Documentation- WHO CALLS ME ON WHEN NO ONE IS HOME, Ella Rerekura

Ella standing with her back to the audience with her canvas draped over her shoulders, she's facing the tree that stood in her front yard.
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Documentation- WHO CALLS ME ON WHEN NO ONE IS HOME, Ella Rerekura

Ella sitting with the audience sitting on mats, having a reflection time after her performance.
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Documentation- WHO CALLS ME ON WHEN NO ONE IS HOME, Ella Rerekura

Body of Remembering / WHO CALLS ME ON WHEN NO ONE IS HOME

Curated by Honey Brown. 

Venue: The Red Zone (4 Galbraith Avenue, Avonside)

Saturday 30 November, 4-7pm | ONE NIGHT ONLY

Part 1, Workshop: 4-5pm

Part 2, Performance: 6-7pm

Body of Remembering / WHO CALLS ME ON WHEN NO ONE IS HOME is an one night, off-site exhibition by Ella Rerekura. The work is rooted in her upbringing within what is now Ōtautahi’s red zone. Rerekura weaves together memories of her younger self with her ongoing journey as a young wahine Māori desiring deeper connections to marae, whenua, awa and whānau. Along the way, she has embraced her dance and body practice as a space of stillness and discovery, evolving into a "portal diving" practice—a means of being both present and in communion with her tūpuna. This layered and evocative work invites viewers into an intimate exploration of place, ancestry, and the ever-shifting notion of home.

Developed during a residency with MAP (Movement Art Practice) earlier this year, this offsite exhibition is an opportunity for Rerekura to look further into ideas of belonging and home. Body of Remembering is a workshop led by Rerekura exploring the idea of a remembering body, or perhaps reflecting on our bodies as a vessel for memories; 

“The practice of walking around a familiar place with your eyes closed–are you sure your body remembers where the light switch lives…can you remember where the rhubarb grows and the smell of rotting āporo disintegrating into the whenua…”

WHO CALLS ME ON WHEN NO ONE IS HOME, is Ella's multimedia performance, a deeply personal exploration of her haerenga, tracing where she has been and where she stands today–a profound inquiry into belonging and what makes "home". 

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Ella Rerekura (Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Rangi, Ngāti Tuwharetoa) is a multidisciplinary dance artist from Ōtautahi, currently living in Tāmaki Makaurau. Ella’s artistic kete includes many practices, including dance, choreography, writing, pigment making and polaroid photography, which she uses to explore the nuances within her identity as wahine, Māori, and CODA (child of Deaf Adults). Ella’s artistic work is deeply tied to her whakapapa journey, which reflects her desire to learn and understand more about who her tūpuna are and how they reside in her body today.