re:place is the culmination of Sarah Hudson’s time in Whakaohorahi Broad Bay on Muaūpoko Otago Peninsula in Ōtepoti between March and May 2022. Hudson’s practice is centred in connecting with the whenua through the use of earth pigments and she and her whānau have spent the past three months walking tracks and tracing the harbour's edge to conduct a colour survey of earth pigments present around Whakaohorahi.

Hudson’s project centres around the Tūhoe concept matemateāone, a term used to express a sense of longing for and belonging to the land. Sometimes it is translated as ‘being wrapped in the earth’, a deeply reciprocal philosophy of creation narratives, kaitiakitanga/ stewardship, and acknowledging eventually we all will return to the soil.

The rich volcanic landscape of Whakaohorahi has offered a uniquely Ōtepoti colour palette and re:place showcases some of the earth colours these Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha lands have to offer. The exhibition also features creative contributions by Te Kahureremoa Taumata and Rachel Anson.

Hudson’s residency was made possible by the generous support of the Caselberg Trust and their annual Creative Connections Residency.

Sarah Hudson (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Pūkeko), Sarah lives below Kapūterangi in Whakatāne. Alongside her fellow soil enthusiasts from Whakatāne, Lanae Cable and Jordan Davey-Emms, Sarah founded Kauae Raro Research Collective in 2019. Since then she’s dedicated her time to relearning and embodying the ways her tīpuna used earth pigments as an art material, in ceremony and as rongoā (medicine). She published Mana Whenua in 2020 and presented at Pigments Revealed, an international earth pigment symposium in 2021.

Sarah is also a member of Mata Aho Collective who have exhibited extensively since their first exhibition and residency at Enjoy Contemporary Art Space in 2012. Inspired by customary Māori textile practices and industrial materials, Mata Aho create large-scale installations with a single-authorship. The collective were nominated for the Jane Lombard Prize for art and social justice in New York in 2020 and were awarded the Walter’s Prize here in Aotearoa in 2021.