Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua / Home is where the kai is is a series of photographs by Aidan Taira Geraghty that explores his whakapapa to Kāti Huirapa Rūnaka ki Puketeraki.
Geraghty was raised in Tāmaki Makaurau far from his papakāinga at Tuahiwi (north of Kaiapoi). The artist’s work examines his experience of disconnection from his ahi kā, an experience shared by urban Māori across generations who grew up away from their marae. In this photographic series, Geraghty attempts to bridge this distance by highlighting familiar yet unique spaces such as wharenui and wharekai that connect viewers across hapu and iwi.
The series consists of two groups of images: Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua shows three locations at Puketeraki that signify the past, the present and the future. Home is where the kai is acknowledges the importance of kai within māoritanga as both a source of sustenance derived from the whēnua and a site at which to commune. Home is where the kai is also acknowledges Hikaroroa, the ancestral mauka which gives shelter to native and endemic species which sustained Geraghty’s tīpuna. In both sets of images, the artist recognises the continuity of whakapapa as a way of navigating urban disconnection.
Artist acknowledgement: "Kā mihi nui to Kāti Huirapa Rūnaka ki Puketeraki and David Geraghty for the tautoko on this project."
About the artist
Aidan Taira Geraghty is a multidisciplinary artist with a background in graffiti/street art, design and sculpture. Graduating from the Dunedin School of Art in 2022 with a BVA (distinction) in Contemporary Sculpture, he pursues an interest in his bicultural heritage and how to visualise a sense of displacement felt by many generations of Tākata Whenua through a contemporary medium. Geraghty predominantly utilizes recycled materials from an urban environment, breathing new life into discarded objects that previously had an austere colonial objective (railway sleepers, school desks, farming materials). These objects take on sculptural forms that invite the public to look at these materials in a new light, ponder on the potential beauty that can evolve from a negative connotation.
Among his most recent exhibitions are Ka Kore, Kua Kore (2023), a collaborative show with Moewai Marsh at Blue Oyster Art Project Space, Ōtepoti Dunedin; and Art Fundraiser for Ōtepoti Hip-Hop Hustle (2024) at Adjo Café, Ōtepoti Dunedin.