Coastal Light Explored through Takataapui Presence; Images, Kaakau and adornment explored through contemporary surf culture

Abstract

a r a p e t a 's work is a celebration of what light brings, to the ocean’s surface, to the artist’s handmade kaakahu, shifting subtly and shimmering in the sun; and to takataapui identity, which they reclaim a space for at the edge of the Moana. For our cover feature, photographed by Ophelia and Ryder Jones, a r a p e t a (Ngaati Whanaunga, Ngaati Ruanui, Ngaati Mahuta, Ngaati Koata, Ngaati Te Wehi, Ngaati Kahu, Ngaa Puhi, Te Rarawa and Ngaati Porou, Tarara, Crawford, Ashton) wears their quilted and sheer kaakahu and several ocean-inspired adornments at Te Puwaha o Whangateau/Mangatawhiri/ Omaha beach. In this essay, Dr Alex Monteith responds to a r a p e t a ’s work and to contemporary surf culture, looking to chart ocean spaces as queer and Indigenous.