New Zealand
Fiona Pardington (Ngai Tahu, Ngai Tuhaitara, Kati Waewae, Kati Huirapa ki te Puketeraki) was born in 1961 in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Of Māori and Scottish descent, she has exhibited her photographic works in Aotearoa, New Zealand, in Australia and more recently in Paris. In 2006, the New Zealand government gifted some of her photographs to the musée du quai Branly: a suite of her Hei Tiki prints from the Ngai Tahu tribe in large format.This contact with the musée du quai Branly gives the artist the inspiration to continue her photography in the complex and profound field of historical and cultural interconnections.
An acclaimed artist, Fiona Pardington was one of the representatives of New Zealand at the 17th Biennale of Sydney (May 2010). A recognised specialist in ‘pure’ or analogue photography darkroom technique, Fiona Pardington recently began experimenting with digital photography. Her most recent works reconnect with the formalism of still life photos, and more particularly as an embodiment of the concept of whakapapa (Māori genealogy). Her work looks at mourning, memory and commemoration in Māori culture from a contemporary perspective.
