Cassette 8: Ohara Museum of Art (1980)

**'The Work of the Late Claudia Atieno'** in the Ohara Museum of Art, Kyoto. Introduction by Leah Akane, curator.

> *"If Claudia were still alive and could hear what I am saying, she would never speak to me again. But she is dead and cannot hear what I am saying and will still never speak to me again. So, what are you going to do?"*
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The exhibit was put together after confirmation of Atieno's death. The curator of the gallery mentions being "blessed" to have Roimata Mangakāhia providing the audio guide for the exhibit. While referring to Roimata as "not nearly as successful" as Atieno, she attributes part of Atieno's success to Roimata.

## Stars (oil on canvas)

It was popular in the beginning of the Society's art scene to recreate old, classic works such as by impressionists like Van Gogh, as many classic works had been lost during the Reckoning. With this painting, Claudia took the concept of Starry Night and, rather than try to reproduce the original painting, made a new piece, ironically completely devoid of stars. The painting is dark, showing a war-torn town under a volcanic winter sky, and a moon struggling to shine through the haze. Smoke spirals in the air, and in the foreground where the spire appears in the original, there is a pillar of flame. Some critics claimed the fire was part of the Reckoning's destruction, but Roimata believed it to be a bonfire celebrating its conclusion. People would burn books, clothes, and art which glorified war, attempting to put the violence behind them.

## Attentiveness (oil on canvas)

This painting was done with bold, clumsy strokes and clearly flattered Claudia's own ego, leading some critics - including Roimata - to regard it as garish and technically unbrilliant. It depicts a black woman with dark braids and a slight frame, exiting a luxury car with her face turned away while a woman on the opposite side of the vehicle stood agape, raising a camera to photograph her. Atieno never directly claimed it was a self-portrait, but its subject seemed to have a near-unmistakable resemblance to her. Claudia was often preoccupied with her looks before a gallery opening, and relished being the centre of attention even though she complained about the lack of freedom that came with scrutiny - and she did not like to be photographed, only complimented.

Roimata believed that the work was unskilled, but revealing of Claudia's character, and there was some value in that. She suspected that if Claudia heard what she said, she would never speak to her again, but decided that did not matter, as Claudia was quite dead.

## Sunglasses and Cigarettes (pencil sketch on paper)

The sketched shows two smoking men in suits and sunglasses, with a Doberman-like dog, blatantly surveilling Atieno's home. From the framing, it appeared to be from the vantage of a front window in one of Claudia's former apartments, years before she met Roimata. Roimata mentions seeing men like these once, pointed out to her by Claudia as they were sitting at an outside table in a café in Cornwall. Claudia shared with her a belief that they were covert operatives, but Roimata dismissed it as baseless conspiracy theory at the time - though she did suggest they lay low for a while if they seemed threatening, which Claudia refused to do. Claudia instead hosted even bigger and more controversial parties, with Pavel inviting friends from the "new new revolution."

> *More about this sketch in Cassette #0: Karikari Contemporary (1969)*
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## Lamp (oil on wood)

Roimata expressed that this was likely her favourite work of Atieno's, and the type of work she most encouraged from her, as she interpreted it to have a bold and subversive message, subtly criticising the Society. It was part of a post-war Art Deco revival, geometric in shape showing an inverted yellow V on a brown circle, showing only the effect of a lit lamp and not the structure itself. Roimata supposedly spent 20 minutes "raving" about its good qualities when Claudia showed it to her in 1969\* and opened an expensive vintage wine she had been saving for a special occasion. Claudia did not seem to appreciate the praise, and told Roimata later she had destroyed it. Since then, it has inspired and been replicated into so many other artworks that it no longer seems as special to her, but rather like a pale imitation of itself.

Roimata says that the listener has likely gotten the idea, and she doesn't feel she particularly needs to walk them through the rest of the exhibits. Most of them are derivative, simple, and represent a recognition by Claudia that quantity was more valued than quality when it came to remaining relevant and successful.

> *\*In this very audioguide and elsewhere, Roimata claimed she had first met Claudia in 1970. This, along with the fact the painting was not in truth destroyed despite Claudia allegedly saying it had been, makes the whole memory questionable.*
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## Box of Acorns (acrylic box, acorns)

Roimata and Claudia would sometimes sneak into warehouses full of debris and pre-war items, and one day they went and marveled at the amount of artwork there. Claudia took home with her an acrylic box, which she later filled with acorns collected from an oak tree close to the Cornwall house.

The following references content that only appeared in the official transcripts available on Patreon and may not be canon. *Learn More*

The warehouses were generally filled with salvage and valuables taken from abandoned homes and businesses by the British Army after the fighting stopped. The particular warehouse they snuck into seemed to be filled with items from the collection of a museum or a wealthy private collector. They took with them everything they could carry. The acrylic box had formerly contained a Faberge egg.

## Items 5-10

### Chicken and Faberge Egg (oil on canvas, imperial egg)

Atieno painted a picture of chicken with human teeth and then glued the Faberge egg to it.

"That the Ohara Museum would even include this work sincerely offends me."

### Shetland Islands (oil on canvas)

Roimata does not comment on this work, saying that she is simply continuing to insert beeps between the "works" so that the Museum's patrons appear busy and none of the staff feel tempted to check the tape for its contents. She says that she had sent ahead a lot of "garbage" she had written about Claudia and had it approved seemingly without anyone looking at it.

### Untitled ostrich (watercolour on cardboard)

End of Patreon-exclsuive content.

Roimata begins to say that she didn't think Claudia would turn up dead, but before she can finish, she starts to cry and another tone plays. She plays the tone twice more before continuing to speak at the end of the tape.

## Eleven

Formally there was no item 11 in the exhibit, but Roimata wishes to talk about Claudia and the Society. She shares the details of Claudia's death - that parts of her body were found two years prior, but were only able to confirm her identity when teeth and bone washed up in 1980. She appeared to have died from the impact of falling from the cliffs onto the rocks, and what was left of the body was found by an eight-year-old girl who then had to be sent to the Institute. Roimata states, tearily, that there is reason to be more than suspicious that more harm would come to her there than seeing a corpse could ever have done.

Recognising her own morbidity, Roimata sighs that the patron will probably want their money back from the audio tour, and suggests that they tell the front desk that the tape seemed broken, or they didn't enjoy it, but to not mention exactly what Roimata said. Then she decides she doesn't care, and declares that she loved Claudia, but she finds the period of work the Museum is hosting contemptible for its naked pandering. She then suggests that perhaps she is just sad and cannot reconcile her feelings. She hisses that she cannot believe they found her body, and she can no longer tell people she is still alive.