Aside from being a spectacular sculpture, ‘He Kōrero Pūrākau mo Te Awanui o Te Motu: story of a New Zealand river’ is also a playable concert grand piano.
Drop by the exhibition on Sunday 21 June to hear the piano being played.
As with other works by Parekowhai, ‘He Kōrero Pūrākau mo Te Awanui o Te Motu: story of a New Zealand river’ is replete with associations and translations: where snippets of personal biography exist alongside art-historical playfulness and big-picture cultural critique. Its many varied references include, among other things, Jane Mander’s 1920 novel The Story of a New Zealand River and its translation in Jane Campion’s celebrated 1993 film The Piano.
Image: Michael Parekowhai, New Zealand b.1968 / He Kōrero Pūrākau mo Te Awanui o Te Motu: story of a New Zealand river 2011 / Original Steinway grand piano (Model D), brass, added timber, cast and flat bar steel, resin, ivory, ebony, mother of pearl, paua and lacquer; wood / Purchased 2011, with the assistance of the Friends of Te Papa / Collection: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa / Registration number: 2011-0046-1/A-N to N-N / Image Courtesy of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
