Ko Te Ākau - poetics of land, water and sky

Ākau - where the ocean meets the land, the horizon connects land, water and sky.
Ko Te Ākau is a visual arts installation and curated performance program for live and virtual spaces, created for group and solo performances, within a design accurate installation of lighting, sound design and video projection. The project references the collaborative works of artists Ralph Hotere and Bill Culbert and serves as an inspiration and meeting place of difference to the formation of new spaces, the performance of community, poetry and ancestral bodies.

The kaupapa of Ko Te Ākau is best served by 'Mātiro Whakamua' with a gaze firmly fixed on the horizon. The project is aesthetically futuristic and abstract, a vehicle for the past, present and future, performed by the living ancestral body of the artists. In this shared space performances journey us through remembrance, acknowledgement, and aspiration. The hope of a poetic land, water and sky is the horizon carried by the kaupapa, where the optimism and guidance of a human being in ceremonial performance places our imagination amongst the cosmos.

Ko Te Ākau was commissioned by the Nelson Arts Festival, in collaboration with Te Toki Haruru, Filament Eleven 11 and Refinery ArtSpace. Supported by Creative New Zealand and Te Arawhiti.
Ko Te Ākau - Nelson Arts Festival 2022
Lead Creative  - Charles Koroneho (Te Toki Haruru)
Design and Creative Collaboration - Brad Gledhill, Rachel Marlow (Filament Eleven 11)
Production  and Creative Collaboration - Teokotai Paitai, Lee Woodman, Tony Black
Performance and Creative Collaboration - Chris Graham, Samara Davis, Rosie Te Rauawhea Belvie, Eddie Elliot, Natasha Kanapé Fontaine, Victoria Hunt, Charles Koroneho
​Sound Design - Te Toki Haruru
Ko Te Ākau - Matariki Festival 2022
Lead Creative  - Charles Koroneho (Te Toki Haruru)
Design and Creative Collaboration - Brad Gledhill, Rachel Marlow (Filament Eleven 11)
Production  and Creative Collaboration - Teokotai Paitai
Sound Design - Te Toki Haruru
Performance - Charles Koroneho
Ko Te Ākau - ARS Electronica Aotearoa 2022
Lead Creative  - Charles Koroneho (Te Toki Haruru)
Design and Creative Collaboration - Brad Gledhill, Rachel Marlow (Filament Eleven 11)
Sound Design - Te Toki Haruru
Performance - Charles Koroneho