AUCKLAND: In a theatrical play, performance artists, Cat Ruka and Josh Rutter will examine the Treaty of Waitangi at Southside Arts Festival in Otara on October 28. Ruka is an award-winning choreographer and describes the piece as “a personal relationship onstage, where Josh and I use our bodies to explore extremities.” “We examine intricacies within the power relationship between Maori and Pakeha (European settlers). We even hit each other. There is definitely a sexual and controversial element.” With the Treaty of Waitangi Maori ceded sovereignty to Britain in exchange for recognition of their ownership of land and waterways. Controversy and Maori grievances originate from an error in translation of the treaty from English to Maori. To deal with these grievances, the government set up the Waitangi Tribunal along with the treaty in 1975 in a bid to communicate constructively with the Maori. “Maori have opened up space to discuss how the Treaty sits today,” said Ruka. “There have been great efforts to compensate in terms of redistribution of wealth and land to the Maori people. However, all that does is teach a body of people that the problems are economic and what does that say?” “We are trying to critique the interplay. Maori have more power than they used to, but what are they actually doing with it?” Ruka, whose father is Maori and mother Pakeha, looks at her personal experience when examining identity struggles in New Zealand. Rutter says, “I think it is about culture rather than about race.” “I feel part Maori because of my attitude and the way that I am involved with Maori culture,” said Rutter. “Maori are trying to create something that is exclusively theirs. In a way I think certain things should be kept like that.” The performance is set between role play and theatre as both artists switch from the personalities of their characters to their own. BM
