A witness and participant to history - John Miller talks to Kei te pai press by Kei te pai press published on 2021-08-23T00:19:47Z Best known for his documentation of protest movements in the 20th and 21st centuries, John Miller’s (Ngāpuhi) photography documents Māori people, culture, and communities from the inside. His work - immediately recognisable to activists, historians, and New Zealanders from that time and now - offers an alternative account to the dominant narrative centering Māori, Pacific peoples, and activists as the agents of historical change. Yet Miller's candid images also capture people in their everyday lives, from ordinary moments in the wharekai to significant but private moments at Rātana Pā, Māori Women’s Welfare League hui, and gatherings of the Polynesian Panthers. Kei te pai press spoke to Miller in his exhibition space at ObjectSpace in Auckland. Pouwātū was a celebration of transformative events in New Zealand history with, in ObjectSpace's words, "an overarching theme of sovereignty at its core". The show was first shown at the Sydney Bienniale NIRIN 2020 and then expanded for its first viewing on home soil. It was a pleasure to talk with Miller in this setting, designed by Elisapeta Heta, and hear from him about New Zealand history and his life history. Image credit: John Miller and Elisapeta Heta, Pouwātū: Active Presence, 2021, installation view at Centre of Contemporary Art CoCA Toi Moroki. Photographer: Samuel Hartnett courtesy of Objectspace.
