Creative Conversations: Wānanga o te Kōauau
with SaVĀge K’lub members Thomas Carroll and Sālvādor Brown
Thomas Carroll and Sālvādor Brown performing for SaVĀge K’lub Opening Weekend Acti.VĀ.tions. Photographs by Kerrie Brewer
Maori People, Koauau (Flute), Purchased 1981
Free, booking essential.
11–12pm: Conversation on the SaVĀge K’lub paepae (Gallery 11)
12.45–2.15pm: Kōauau instrument workshop (Learning Studio)
Join Thomas Carroll (Māori, Ngāti Maru, Hauraki, European) and Sālvādor Brown (Moana nui, Samoa, Tuvalu, European) practitioners of nga taonga puoro o te Moana nui (the singing treasures of the Pacific) for a creative conversation on the SaVĀge K’lub paepae.
Thomas and Sālvādor will share and sing stories of their practices in conversation with Cara Kirkwood (Mandandanji and Mithaka peoples). This is a special opportunity to see and hear the instruments up close and learn more about the long history and revival of the haumanu and tohunga.
The conversation will be followed by an artist-led workshop to make and play your own Kōauau instrument. The Kōauau can be made from timber, kelp, albatross wing bones and human bones. In this workshop, you will learn how to make a Kōauau from bamboo, a material common in the wider Pacific.
Creative Conversations is suitable for people of all ages and abilities. All children must be accompanied by a participating adult. No previous making or music experience required.
Participants are encouraged to bring a packed lunch to enjoy in the Learning Studio between the talk and workshop. Please pack your lunch in a bag 30x 30cm or smaller.
Artists
Thomas Carroll, photograph by Andrew Pfammatter. Image courtesy of the artist.
Thomas Carroll
Thomas Carroll’s (Ngāti Maru, Hauraki; Pākehā) long time interest in music and sculpture led him to discover and connect with Ngā taonga pūoro - Māori musical instruments. This connection was found when he began discovering his whakapapa – genealogy - while living in Melbourne years ago. Carroll’s pieces are the results of eight years of research and experimentation. Supported by one of the many networks of Ngā taonga pūoro makers and players in Aotearoa/New Zealand, Carroll has developed a voice with ngā taonga pūoro that conveys the artform as a living and evolving entity. In his practice, Carroll is open to a diverse range of materials, including bronze, glass, sand and timber. The energy and love for ngā taonga pūoro is evident in every mahi (work).
Sālvādor Brown. Image supplied.
Sālvādor Brown
Sālvādor Brown is an Aotearoa/New Zealand born Samoan/Tuvaluan, Gaelic, Norseman. He is the son of Rosanna Raymond and was raised in the Pasifika arts scene. He is a sound and visual practitioner, videographer and photographer, and uses his knowledge of Tāonga Pūoro in his practice. Brown is in the first phase of his research project Measina Logo - Treasured Sound, which looks at Samoan musical instruments and how they are connected across Moana nui a Kiwa/the Pacific Ocean. The artist recently showed his soundscape DigiTā VāSā at Tautai Pacific Arts Trust in the exhibition Moana Waiwai, Moana Pāti. Brown is working alongside dancer Rachel Ruckstuhl-Mann on the relationship between sound and body through the story of Hine-ahu-one.
Brown was the Kaiwhakatangitangi (musician) for the opening of the Pacific Sisters: Fashion Activists exhibition at the Auckland Art Gallery. He was the Acti.VA.tor for In*ter*is*land Collective in London for the Oceania exposition and at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris in 2019, and participated in the Inaugural London SaVĀge K'lub in 2011. Brown documented these events for the Queensland Art Gallery's 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in 2015.
