Harvest a ceramic gift for a stranger

He whakaaturanga hou a Tupu Takirua nā te ringatoi matapaia, nā Cindy Huang 黄馨贤, rātou ko te kaihoahoa, ko Micheal McCabe, ko te kaihautū auaha, ko Rosabel Tan.

He māra moroiti te momo, he kaupapa taupua tēnei e pōwhiri ana i te hunga hapori ki te hono mai ki tētahi hui ‘hauhake’. I ia hui, kuhu takirua ai ētahi tauhou tokorua ki te māra, ka tonoa ai ia o rāua kia hauhake i tētahi huawhenua matapaia hei koha mā tētahi ki tērā atu, hei mea whakahoki anō ki te kāinga.

Ko te tūāpapa o te whakaaturanga nei, ko tā Cindy aro atu ki ngā hapori Hainamana e noho manene mai ana i konei, otirā, ki ngā hononga e taea ana i nāianei, ā anamata hoki, hei tangata Tiriti. Ko te whāinga ia, ko te whakarite wāhi, wā hoki, e whakaaro tahi ai tātou ki ngā hītori o te whenua, ki ngā tāngata tokomaha e noho tahi nei ki tēnei tāone, otirā, ki ngā āpōpō ka taea pea e tātou te waihanga ake. Ko te taitara o Twin Cultivation (Tupu Takirua) e hāngai ana ki te kaupapa o te whakatō ngātahi i ētahi tupu hei hoa: ko te whakaaro ia, ka matomato ake te whanaketanga o ētahi tupu ki te tupu ngātahi ki tupu kē, tērā i te tupu wehewehe.

Ko te tūmanako ia, mā ia hui hauhake e hua ai ētahi tūtakitanga matawhawhati: he whakawhitinga kōrero kāore pea i hua i te korenga o te whakaaturanga nei, te tūhuratanga o ētahi hītori e hāngai ngātahi ana, ā — i te mutunga iho — he huihuinga manatunga ka horapa ki Tāmaki Makaurau, me he puananī kua rere runga hau.

240 katoa ngā hua nā te ringa tonu i hanga ka waihangatia hei koha i ngā papa e rua, i Britomart me Panmure.

Twin Cultivation is a new work that brings together ceramic artist Cindy Huang 黄馨贤, designer Micheal McCabe, and creative producer Rosabel Tan. 

Presented as a miniature garden, this temporary installation invites members of the public to sign up for a ‘harvesting’ session. In each session, two strangers enter the garden together, and are invited to unearth a ceramic vegetable to gift to the other person to take home. 

This work builds on Cindy’s interest in the relationships that Chinese migrant communities can and could have as tangata Tiriti, and seeks to create space for us to collectively consider the histories of the land, the many people we share this city with, and the possible futures we could create. The title, Twin Cultivation, is a nod to the idea of companion planting: the idea that different plants grow stronger together than apart. 

Through each harvesting session, we hope to create unexpected collisions: conversations that might not have happened otherwise, the discovery of shared histories, and — at the end — a constellation of keepsakes across Tāmaki Makaurau, spread like seeds in the wind.

In total, 240 hand-made works will be created and gifted across two sites in Britomart and Panmure.

Twin Cultivation is produced by Satellites and presented with the support of Eke Panuku Development Auckland and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Mon 27 June — Sun 10 July 2022