Jo Burzynska - Hā! - 23 August –15 Sept, 2024

Opening Event: Friday 23 August 2024 pm – all welcome

If we inhale another’s memories, might we understand each other differently or perhaps more deeply? Hā! brings together a series of olfactory “portraits” drawn from inhabitants of Ōtautahi from a range of ethnic, sensory, gender and neurodiverse backgrounds. Using the intimate sense of smell, it invites an embodied transfer of personal, and cultural, sensory experiences. Resisting containment, the works subtly mingle with each other, making a larger, immaterial central work in the gallery space in which experiences coalesce.

Hā is a breath, an essence, a taste, a tone in te reo Māori. Ha! is an exhalation of surprise or derision across the many European cultures that dismiss knowledge gained through the proximal senses. In the olfactory compositions of Hā!, cultures blend in the memories these diffuse, offering perspectives not only into individuals, but histories that can be lesser known or overlooked when relying on Western-centric biographical methods of writing and visual depiction. Hā! Is a continuation of Osmologies, initially developed for Blue Oyster in Ōtepoti Dunedin.

Dr Jo Burzynska is a multimedia artist, researcher, writer and perfumier. Initially working in sound, over time her practice has become increasingly multisensory, making work that combines sound with taste, touch, and the scents she often distils herself. Burzynska is engaged with research into sensory interactions and their creative application, developing a practice she calls crossmodal art. Informed by the fields of art, psychology, sensory science and anthropology, this was the focus of her practice-led doctoral research in Art & Design at the University of New South Wales, and the subject of the book she is currently writing for Routledge. She is based in Ōhinehou Lyttelton and is a member of the Rei Collective.

Rei is a Māori owned and operated gallery under local mana whenua Kāti Wheke, located in the Whakaraupō. Within rei is a collective of artists who are committed to pushing boundaries, generating conversation, and creating new possibilities under te Tiriti o Waitangi. As carvers, sculptors, painters, and weavers, our aims are to support emerging, mid-career, and established artists in Ōtautahi. As an extension of Whakaraupō Carving Centre, the idea behind Rei is to include individuals and groups from all backgrounds who are a part of Te Ao Māori.

For further information about Rei Gallery, contact: rei@whakaraupoacarving.maori.nz

For further details, images or to arrange an interview with Jo, contact her at jo@joburzynska.com / 021 776161