Project 24 - Awa HQ
Awa HQ
Angela Lyon, Aroha Novak & Charlotte Parallel
An Urban Dream Brokerage Project
November 2017 - March 2018
175 Rattray Street and CBD
Property Partner: Anchorage Properties Ltd.
An Environment Envoy commission as part of Te Ao Tūroa - Dunedin’s Environment Strategy Facebook page
Awa HQ is dedicated to the Toitū stream, guided by an ethos of reconnecting to the water itself- as a community. AWA HQ looks at the history, condition and relationships of the Toitū stream by inviting and gathering up the diverse stories, experiences and responses culminating in a series of picnics, performances, and a hikoi. AWA HQ is a collaboration by Angela Lyon, Aroha Novak and Charlotte Parallel as an Environment Envoy commission by Urban Dream Brokerage Dunedin and the Dunedin City Council as part of Te Ao Tūroa, Dunedin’s Environment Strategy.
"The purpose of AWA HQ is to highlight the Toitū as a living entity, to recognise its profound significance and to reconnect with the water itself, together, as a community.
"AWA HQ is focused on the history, condition and relationships of the Toitū and the project has gathered many people along the way. We would like to acknowledge the generosity of everyone who has shared their stories, their histories and their experiences with us. This generosity has contributed to affirming the established relationships while activating new ones with both the stream and its people. We dearly hope that the development of these connections will remain ongoing and that the Toitū’s community will continue to grow. Just as it always has, the Toitū continues to trickle down from the mountains to the sea."
AWA HQ FINAL PICNIC: 12-1pm SATURDAY 10 MARCH 2018
At the lawn between Serpentine Avenue and Māori Road to honour the past, present and the future of the Toitū stream. Featured DCC waiata group and Moana Wesley leading the learning of the Toitū waiata together before going down to sing it to the stream.
AWA HQ OPENING: 12pm SATURDAY 25 NOVEMBER, 2017
A water divining hikoi in the town belt with Stephen Kilroy and Taonga Pūoro artists Jennifer Cattermole and Jessica Latton. Dowsing rods were provided to learn the art of water dowsing and together trace the Toitū stream to Awa HQ and the Toitū riverbank at 175 Rattray Street.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND GENEROSITY
Sean Brosnahan, Jennifer Cattermole, Bill Dacker, Natalie Karaitiana,
Rua McCallum, Craig McNab, Paul Pope and Rachel Wesley
MURKY WATERS: SATURDAY 9TH OF DECEMBER, 2017
In a casual conversation about the influence of mainstream media on our recent election and the techno-industrial system that abstracts the living world as a resource, the artists joked that we all have to be activists. With this in mind, they invited artists who work in politically engaged multi-disciplinary fields to respond to their karanga by presenting works at AWA HQ, an empty lot at 175 Rattray Street, Ōtepoti Dunedin, beside the now concealed underground Toitū stream.
Participating artists: Ruth Evans, Rubbish Film Unit, Chris Schmelz, Fresh & Fruity, Tiger Murdoch, Metiria Turei and Tao Wells.
An on-site installation and picnic.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND GENEROSITY
Blue Oyster Project Art Space, Natalie Smith, Sociological Association of Aotearoa NZ, RDC, the Dunedin City Council Small Project Grant, Sam and Jones Chin.
Images: Justin Spiers (water divining and Murky Waters) and Ted Whitaker (final picnic event)