A (very) brief history of Aotearoa by Kereama Taepa for SCAPE Public Art Season 2019

Kereama Taepa A (very) brief history of Aotearoa 2016. Image courtesy of SCAPE Public Art. Photo by Heather Milne.

A (very) brief history of Aotearoa re-imagined our past as a video game. Modelled on the iconic arcade game Space Invaders, the artwork was both sculpture and an interactive application for iPhones.

Our hero (a wharenui) bravely fought off invading enemy ships filled with missionaries, the Crown and government, all of whom wanted to stage a takeover.

Humorous and pointedly political, A (very) brief history of Aotearoa enabled you, as player, to navigate and rewrite the past. It was, as the title makes clear, only a partial account, as Taepa says, ‘a truth, not necessarily the truth’. The starting point for the work was Taepa’s own lack of knowledge of Māori history, many years ago as a student and his desire to understand alternative histories outside the mainstream narrative.

Reinterpreted in the visual language of an earlier generation, yet familiar to most, A (very) brief history of Aotearoa continued Taepa’s exploration of the impact of innovation and technology on cultural development. At a moment when we have shifted to a screen-based culture, A (very) brief history of Aotearoa grounded the digital in the physical, while simultaneously enabling audiences to take the work home. Like colonisation, gaming is about strategy, but Taepa emphasises the need for empathy above all else. To play the game you must, Taepa points out, ‘walk in someone else’s shoes’.

Commissioned by Wellington Sculpture Trust for their 4 Plinths Sculpture Award. Game component made in partnership with Gamefroot.