Copyright Mana Moana Collective
Calling Tangaroa
Calling Tangaroa
2021
These poets of the Moana bring us fighting words, love letters and laments. They ask us to feel – for a moment – the overwhelm of planetary grief. To feel the king tides hit. To drown in it a little. To gasp and grasp for the preciousness of our breath.
While the science calls on everything we can measurably know, the poets of the Moana call on everything we’ve ever known. We call on all that exists beyond our knowing – our ancestral legacies and languages – seeking the synchronies that held the secrets to our sustainability.
Produced by the Mana Moana Collective with Storybox, this collection captures these contemporary artists and poets at a time of great urgency and indigenous resurgence.
Poetry written & performed by
Lisa Leilani Williams
Artwork
Numangatini MacKenzie Field
Director
Jess Feast
Animation
Mike Bridgman, Rachael Rakena
Music and Sound Design
Paddy Free
Full credits at the end of the video
Artist Bio
Lisa Leilani Williams
Claiming spaces, growing voices – Global citizen, Pacific heart, Ocean core. A firm believer in the creative power and mana of ‘tok-stori’ (storytelling) to deepen the conversations on stuff that makes the heart sing. Hailing from the Cook Islands, I’m a closet poet with some dusty documentary awards somewhere. My paid work revolves around media advice and public affairs off the back of decades in journalism, gender advocacy and photography– all of which I still really love as passion projects.
Numangatini MacKenzie
Numangatini Mackenzie is a mark maker and a visual storyteller. His practice centres on the exploration of urban space and the processes of building connections to his moana and people. His research engages with literature on Oceanic art, museum collections as well as collaborations with living practitioners of art forms ranging from tatau, graffiti, printmaking and making of traditional implements and voyaging/navigation.
Numa was born in Canada but bloodlines flow from the Cook Islands and England and he now resides in Aotearoa(nz)