One of the bloodiest and most contested periods in Aotearoa New Zealand history is explored through film in a new exhibition at the Canterbury Museum Pop-Up.
He Riri Awatea: Filming the New Zealand Wars stars a fiery blockbuster, a music video from Kiwi thrash metal band Alien Weaponry and battle scenes filmed across nearly a century.
The exhibition offers a fresh take on how stories about Ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa (the New Zealand Wars) have been told on film. It includes clips from films, television and music videos telling stories from the war that raged from 1845 to 1872. Scenes from classic Kiwi films like Utu and River Queen play alongside clips from groundbreaking television shows like The Governor and music videos by artists like Ria Hall.
Props, costumes and posters from New Zealand film history also star in the exhibition, including a carved pou and period costumes from River Queen and a film camera used by 1920s Kiwi filmmaker Rudall Hayward.
The exhibition’s title, He Riri Awatea, means a battle in the daylight. This refers to cinema’s primary element – light – but also to how the exhibition casts fresh light on the New Zealand Wars.
He Riri Awatea: Filming the New Zealand Wars opens on 9 May at the Canterbury Museum Pop-Up, 66 Gloucester Street. Free entry; donations appreciated. Toured by the New Zealand Portrait Gallery.