Unutai e! Unutai e!

Unutai e! Unutai e! uses contemporary art to offer an urgent view into a moment of crisis – the degraded state of fresh water across Kāi Tahu tribal lands.  In 2020 Kāi Tahu lodged a statement of claim before the High Court in Ōtautahi Christchurch seeking recognition of Kāi Tahu rakatirataka over wai māori, fresh water, within their takiwā. Gathering evidence to support the claim, Te Kura Taka Pini, the entity overseeing the claim, engaged photographer Anne Noble to create a photographic archive illustrating this environmental disaster, as well as the whānau, hapū and iwi fighting for wai māori, the recognition of rakatirataka, and the survival of mahika kai practices that sit at the heart of Kāi Tahu identity.