If tino rangatiratanga is the concept of sovereignty, what does agency over one’s image look like within a digital era?

Ōpōtiki is a coastal town, home to about 4000 people in the Eastern Bay of Plenty of Aotearoa, New Zealand. In September 2015, the Ōpōtiki District Council established blanket approval for the recreational use of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), also known as drones on council-owned land, reserves and roads.

Privacy focused fashion is produced through mixing anti-surveillance “stealth wear” with customary Māori knowledge of native flora. Aided with these adornments, Ōpōtiki residents stake a claim for privacy and identity protection by hiding in plain sight from RPAS cameras. They are in essence, one with the land…

Sarah Hudson Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe a full-time visual artist and even fuller-time mum living and working in Whakatāne, Aotearoa NZ. Hudson graduated with a MFA with distinction from Massey University Wellington in 2010 with a practice founded in photography, performance and installation. Her art practise explores representation, indigeneity, gender and customary Māori knowledge.

Artist talk: Saturday 29 October, 1pm