Open/Close Toolbox
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 New Zealand License
Format: Image
Linked To
Map
Copyright
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 New Zealand LicenseThis licence allows you to download this work and share it with others as long as you mention us and link back to us, but you cannot change it in any way or use it commercially.
Menu
Madison Kelly, Walk wanawana walk, 2024.
Expand/collapse
Description
TitleMadison Kelly, Walk wanawana walk, 2024.
DescriptionMadison Kelly
Kāi Tahu, Kāti Mamoe, Pākehā
Walk wanawana walk, 2023
Aluminium, rivets, felt
Courtesy of the artist
‘The kupu Māori wanawana holds several meanings, including “shiver, trill, quiver, fear, thrill” ... the work is built around the sensory feedback of touch and vibration to emulate a taniwha-like “shiver and hiss” installation watching over (and calling out to) visitors of Te Ara Ātea.’ - Madison Kelly
Madison Kelly’s interactive installation, Walk wanawana walk, provides a sensory experience of “wanawana”. Depicting the scale pattern of the Canterbury Grass Skink’s head and eye, the installation features metallic scales etched with detailed field drawings from Selwyn’s waterways alongside illustrations of skinks and their habitats. The metallic scales are punctured with rivets and reference sizzle symbols that drummers use to create rattling and hissing sound. This experience is a mihi to hiss and scuttle of the atua of reptiles, Tūtewanawana, whose grandfather is Takaroa, atua of the sea. Reptiles in te ao Maōri are also connected to taniwha, guardians of bodies of water. In Waikirikiri Selwyn, Te Waihora Lake Ellesmere is home to the taniwha Tūterakiwhanoa.
Kelly invites you to explore a tactile experience of the features Waikirikiri Selwyn’s reptilian habitats; the Tī Kouka tree’s flowers, tussocks providing sustenance, sun-warmed river stones, and the vital water’s edge. It highlights the importance of Selwyn’s braided rivers and their margins—key habitats for native geckos and skinks threatened by environmental changes.
In te ao Māori, mokomoko are kaitiaki, or guardians, of their environments. In ecology, they serve as bioindicators of ecosystem health; their presence indicates that their ecosystem is healthy while their absence indicates that ecosystem is struggling. Kelly underscores the interconnectedness of waterways and the diverse life they sustain, reminding us that these ecosystems are deeply intertwined whakapapa.
Glossary of Māori Terms
Kupu Māori - Māori word
Mihi – acknowlegement
Atua - deity, ancestor with continuing influence
Te ao Maōri - the Maōri world
Tī Kouka – Cabbage tree
Mokomoko – native lizards
Whakapapa - genealogyDateJune 2024SourceSelwyn District CouncilPhotographerJohn Collie
DescriptionMadison Kelly Kāi Tahu, Kāti Mamoe, Pākehā
Walk wanawana walk, 2023
Aluminium, rivets, felt
Courtesy of the artist
‘The kupu Māori wanawana holds several meanings, including “shiver, trill, quiver, fear, thrill” ... the work is built around the sensory feedback of touch and vibration to emulate a taniwha-like “shiver and hiss” installation watching over (and calling out to) visitors of Te Ara Ātea.’ - Madison Kelly
Madison Kelly’s interactive installation, Walk wanawana walk, provides a sensory experience of “wanawana”. Depicting the scale pattern of the Canterbury Grass Skink’s head and eye, the installation features metallic scales etched with detailed field drawings from Selwyn’s waterways alongside illustrations of skinks and their habitats. The metallic scales are punctured with rivets and reference sizzle symbols that drummers use to create rattling and hissing sound. This experience is a mihi to hiss and scuttle of the atua of reptiles, Tūtewanawana, whose grandfather is Takaroa, atua of the sea. Reptiles in te ao Maōri are also connected to taniwha, guardians of bodies of water. In Waikirikiri Selwyn, Te Waihora Lake Ellesmere is home to the taniwha Tūterakiwhanoa.
Kelly invites you to explore a tactile experience of the features Waikirikiri Selwyn’s reptilian habitats; the Tī Kouka tree’s flowers, tussocks providing sustenance, sun-warmed river stones, and the vital water’s edge. It highlights the importance of Selwyn’s braided rivers and their margins—key habitats for native geckos and skinks threatened by environmental changes.
In te ao Māori, mokomoko are kaitiaki, or guardians, of their environments. In ecology, they serve as bioindicators of ecosystem health; their presence indicates that their ecosystem is healthy while their absence indicates that ecosystem is struggling. Kelly underscores the interconnectedness of waterways and the diverse life they sustain, reminding us that these ecosystems are deeply intertwined whakapapa.
Glossary of Māori Terms
Kupu Māori - Māori word
Mihi – acknowlegement
Atua - deity, ancestor with continuing influence
Te ao Maōri - the Maōri world
Tī Kouka – Cabbage tree
Mokomoko – native lizards
Whakapapa - genealogy
DateJune 2024SourceSelwyn District CouncilPhotographerJohn CollieConnections
Subject (Keywords)ArtNgāi TahuCollectionArt at Te Ara ĀteaTe Ara Ātea Exhibition 2024: Undercurrents
Ngāi TahuCollectionArt at Te Ara ĀteaTe Ara Ātea Exhibition 2024: UndercurrentsAttribution
Click on the image to add
a tag or press ESC to cancel
a tag or press ESC to cancel
loading google map....
Madison Kelly, Walk wanawana walk, 2024. (June 2024). Selwyn Stories, accessed 28/06/2026, https://selwynstories.selwynlibraries.co.nz/nodes/view/6722