Cassette 0: Karikari Contemporary (1969)

> *This prequel is available for donors of $50+ or patrons of $10+ only. For more information visit nightvalepresents.com or patreon.com/withinthewires*
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### Air Date

23/08/17

**'Benefits of Doubt: The Conspiratorial Populism of Claudia Atieno'** at the Karikari Contemporary. The entire audio guide is narrated by Roimata Mangakāhia, founder.

> *"Our world had grown so incredibly old, fallen so irreversibly ill, and with the Great Reckoning, humanity faced its death, accepted it, and was reborn."*
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The exhibit was intended to showcase Atieno's works that challenged the Society and people's views of it. The artworks featured were on loan from the Oceanic Government, which came into possession of them after the death of Aimée Layeni, a friend of Atieno's, in 1968.

## The Long Corridor

Roimata first invited the viewer to lean in (not touch) and study the colours in the charcoal drawing, drawing their attention to the lavender and peach tones seeming to reflect faintly in the unlit corridor. On closer inspection, the colours may appear to be coming through the walls, as if lights were shining through cracks in the plaster. She asks the viewer to consider what the corridor has to hide, or the light have to share.

## Child and Damselfly

She identifies the lake in the background of the painting as Lake Victoria in Eastern Africa, but stresses that this is a guess on her part based on a biography article she read of Claudia's and photographs she has studied of the region. Roimata also speculates that the child pictured is Claudia herself, although other critics have disagreed with her because of the title of the painting being "Child and Damselfly" not "The Artist as a Child and Damselfly". She points out the child carefully scrutinising the damselfly like an artist would a subject, and holding the creature delicately.

Roimata says that some have called Atieno's work critical of the Society, but this is difficult to substantiate because of the subjectivity of art. She mentions that Atieno was born towards the end of the Reckoning, and the Age Ten laws did not apply to her, but she was discouraged from mentioning her parents as an adult. Roimata invites the viewer to look along the right hand side of the painting, where two tall shadows can be made out. She suggests that these are Claudia's parents.

## New York, Before the Flood

The painting shows a childhood memory of Claudia's trip to New York, before large portions of the city were destroyed and water-damaged during the Reckoning. Damming efforts developed from Belgium, Denmark, and the Netherlands meant parts of the city were once again habitable in the modern day, and Harlem in particular became a thriving cultural hub in the 1960s.

Roimata calls the viewer's attention to the bright lights of Times Square shown in the painting. She asks is they can imagine an entire city district dedicated to theatre, and what memories that might have lost.

## Sunglasses and Cigarettes

The two figures in this sketch often appear in the background of Claudia's work. Having seen exhibits in Aotearoa, London, Sydney, and Rabat, Roimata could think of three other paintings where she could identify these men. In this rendition they were stiff, holding cigarettes at their sides with their sunglasses low down on their noses, and at their feet was an unpleasant-looking dog.

Roimata confesses she does not know the significance of these figures, though she has friends who believe they belong to a covert fringe section of the Society. She suggests that Claudia, being Society-critical, has merely given these rumours a face.

> *More about this sketch in Cassette #8: Ohara Museum of Art (1980)*
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## Cornwall Market

Roimata says that this painting has some similarities to *Marketplace, Summer Afternoon 1965*, but she prefers the tense atmosphere of this one. The poorly-dressed crowd of survivors is sparse and starving, and none are stealing from the fruit vendors, but none are paying them either. The community-building intended by local markets seems absent, and no one is touching the fruit. There is a woman dressed finely, but her dress is torn, and another who holds herself confidently, but has dead eyes.

Roimata mentions that Claudia has a home in Cornwall, and that she is hoping to meet with her while she works on an audio guide for an Atieno exhibit at the Tate Modern in London the following year. She expresses a wish to learn from Atieno, and ponders what she would ask her, and how she will adequately express her admiration. She concludes by suggesting that she might ask her why no one in this painting is touching any of the fruit.

At the end of the guide, she invites the listener to come to the front desk and chat to her. She promises to neither ignore or forget them.