A Map So Big It Blocks the Sun is a new film by Quentin Lind, taking Jorge Luis Borges' short story On Exactitude in Science as a starting point. Borges’ 1946 story was partly influenced by a novel by Lewis Carroll Sylvie and Bruno Concluded (1893), in which a character notes that they made a map on a mile to mile scale, but they have not yet used it, as farmers objected due to concerns it would cover the entire country and block out the sunlight. Instead, they “now use the country itself, as its own map, and I assure you it does nearly as well.” Those in Borges’ story similarly pursued ‘perfection’ in the form of a 1:1 scale map. Their descendants “were not so fond of the Study of Cartography as their Forebears” and saw no need for it. Readers of both stories are required to have a wry sense of humour in the face of impending horror.

Haere mai, nau mai
Haere mai, kuhu mai ki ngā hūhā o Ruawehea.

Welcome welcome
Welcome through the whakapapa of Ruawehea.

All This Work Is Necessary is an extension of Ashleigh Taupaki’s doctoral research investigating her Ngāti Hako connections to the Hauraki wetlands. The artist’s whakapapa is an essential part of her practice. Taupaki’s tūpuna are said to be the earliest settlers of Hauraki. Though Ngāti Hako records, such as pūrākau and waiata, have sadly been decimated over time due to inter-iwi wars and colonial settlement, she has spent years pouring over surviving records written by those who sought to oppress Māori through imperial power structures. The resulting artworks are a testament to Taupaki’s determination to convey the systemic decline of the Hauraki wetlands.

To the Friend Who Did Not Save My Life brings together works by the Turner-Prize winning artist Charlotte Prodger alongside Sholto Buck, Laura Langer, Laila Majid, David Moser, Louis Blue Newby, Dayle Palfreyman and Tobias Allen.

Motherland Homeland brings together the work of Pilimilose Manu, 'Uhila Moe Langi Nai, Emily Parr, Monica Paterson and Siliga David Setoga, curated by Bonni Luafutu-Tamati.

Image: Monica Paterson, Divine Encounters 2, 2019. Courtesy of the
artist.

Mirai Nikki (Future Diary) is an exhibition exchange between Kikuchi University, Kumamoto, Japan, and Enjoy Contemporary Art Space. The exhibition is a scrapbook of what might or might not be, and a contemplation of the future. Artists have been encouraged to consider their personal and collective relationships to the future from their own perspective.

The exhibition includes work by 青い, Mayu Kanamori, カツオ(のえ)ブ(ｫ)シ, Hana Kobori, Hisao Kobori, Ravi Masaki, Chugen Nakahara, Masaaki Oyamada, Kyohei Sakaguchi, Shinoka Sekihara, Moeko Sonoda, TASKAM, Kazuya Tateishi, Makiko Tomita and Utageguruma.

CAN is a new film by Tāmaki Makaurau based artist Grant Priest, screening in Enjoy's artist cinema. 

I Live Here is an exhibition organised by Pablos Art Studios featuring the work of Ngata Reihana, Luke Sullivan, Donna Jenkins, Rosemarie Bowers, Tzukeet Newman and Reece Tong.

Ngā hau o Tāwhirimātea brings together work by Hana Pera Aoake and Taarn Scott, in collaboration with Riki Gooch.

maybe i’m just like a gust of wind is an exhibition by Tāmaki Makaurau based artist Wesley John Fourie.  

A grandmother’s sweet hymn carries keynotes of prayers in a grandchild’s memory, stacking plastic chairs are dragged back into storage, dented from the joy and grieving of mass family gatherings. Paternal and maternal kinship ties deepen through time-honoured iTaukei ceremonies with masi, a kala-noa calls ‘autalavou laiti (youth) to fall in love with their stories marked on tapa.

Ocean of Whispers brings together measina from Elsie Andrewes (Navala, Nakoroboya, Ba. Fiji, Pākehā), Jimmy Ma’ia’i (Sapapali’i and Fasito’outa, Samoa and Edinburgh, Scotland), Natasha Ratuva (Naioti, Bualomanihoro, Fiji), Jasmine Tuiā (Matautu Lefaga, Falefa, Anoama’a, Malifa, Samoa)  and Kasi Valu (Lapaha and Ma’ufanga, Tonga). 

Curated by Etanah Falagā Talapā.

On behalf of Enjoy, fa’afetai tele, vinaka vakalevu, malo ‘aupito to everyone who generously donated to our BoostedxMoana campaign in 2021. It is with your love, trust and support that Ocean of Whispers has been realised.