IN August a year ago Parlour Projects, Hastings, presented Omarunui by Jono Rotman. That exhibition was of mainly historic photographs and focused on the main protagonists involved with the Battle of Omarunui, near Napier.
With Properties of Peace and Evil, Brett Graham responds to Jono Rotman's exhibition. In this solo exhibition of new work Graham looks to historical correspondence and artefacts to provide an alternative account of the events that shaped Omarunui, thematically exploring the Battle of Omarunui that took place in Hawke's Bay on October 12, 1866.
On that day, 200 militiamen and a similar number from local hapu surrounded a party of approximately 100 Pai Marire (Hauhau) followers, comprised mainly of Ngati Hineuru. After an invitation to surrender was rebuffed, the occupied kainga was besieged.
Many Ngati Hineuru were killed with the balance taken prisoner and exiled to the Chatham Islands, along with whanau who were taken prisoner at Herepoho.
Those events and the subsequent outcomes remain contentious, and many conflicting perspectives exist.