Memory exists as an individual psychological faculty that creates the narrative of our lives and also as a collective culturally constructed phenomenom. Collective cultural memory and knowledge are incorporated into the body and passed on through speech, gesture, action, dance and ritual. Memory is also passed on through inscribed practice which, like photography, is “something that traps and holds information, long after the human organism has stopped performing.”1. Through photography, the speakers at this year’s Symposium are inscribing aspects of the cultural memory of indigenous cultures as well as incorporating technology to represent and share their living memory and knowledge.
11.15am: Ihumatao Pa in Mangere, the the longest continual settlement of Maori in Auckland, can trace its roots back more than 800 years. Over time the iwi has had its lands confiscated, maunga quarried, waterways polluted. Further developments at Auckland International Airport, Watercare's Waste Water treatment plant and the continued industrial sprawl show 'Pa life' is still under threat. Auckland writer and photographer Qiane Matata-Sipu speaks about the importance of storytelling through documentary photography and shares the stories of Ihumatao Pa.
12.15pm: Since the late 1950's Ans Westra, has been involved with the documentation of NZ’s indigenous people. No true appraisal of Maori from an outside perspective was happening at the time and Maori culture seemed to Ans to be on the verge of extinction. Although in later years Maori have questioned her authority and understanding as an outsider, they gave her a view on their changing world. Her work has been the cause of several controversies, which carry on to the present day “though now I am more involved with the documentation and preservation of this beautiful landscape and I come to that with the love Maori have for their land, their turangawaewae.“
1.45pm: The rise of online and social media participation has created a new form of Tribalism, primordial sentiment a dreaming narrative. No longer do we find images of Indigenous people confined to the pages of National Geographic or hoarded away in dusty ethnographic libraries. The global phenomenon of image sharing has opened our eyes and minds towards the richness of culture and all it embodies but has also had a negative effect with derogatory social profiling and stereotyping. On this and other issues, Wayne Quilliam will share his knowledge and experiences as one of Australia’s leading Aboriginal photographers working on the international stage.
2.45pm: Chris Rainier is a National Geographic Society Fellow and photographer who has documented cultures around the globe for 30 years. He will speak about indigenous cultures using modern technology to both preserve their quickly disappearing ancient traditions as well as incorporate traditional knowledge with cutting edge technology to find sustainable solutions for the pressing global issues of the 21st Century. He will show us clear examples of traditional communities using photography to revitalize and maintain their way of life and ancient knowledge.
