The Messengers, nga karere

~ a series of new works by Emma Bass ~
excerpted words - Aaron Fry

The title of this series takes its inspiration from the Māori understanding of tūī' as a messenger of the Gods and Goddesses in which they are a medium,used by Tohunga (experts), to communicate between humans and divine entities. In The Messengers, nga karere, tūī' offer a message about Aotearoa’s environment, her fragile beauty and our need to work together to protect this land; besides being very vocal, tūī' are intensely territorial creatures.

In these works, tūī' dwell in the darkened world between life and death and the sacred and everyday. They mingle with both native and introduced flora and flotsam, such as the colonial era fireplace, evoking the hybrid and complex nature of the cultural and natural worlds we simultaneously inhabit and create in Aotearoa-New Zealand.

Emma is looking forward to exhibiting these new works at a date and location to be announced.

(please note, these are not final images ... still works in progress)