Tiare Ribeaux, Nanea Lum, Jody Stillwater. Juried Artist
As Above, So Below
Artist Statement
Ulu (ʻŌlelo Hawai’i): “to grow, increase, spread, to protect, to rise”; Kupu: “sprout, offspring, germinate” or a “spirit or supernatural being”.
Through video that mixes parallel visual narratives, Ulu Kupu follows a performance of harvesting plants/materials from the ‘āina (land): hala which is used for weaving; wauke, which is used to create kapa or tapa, a textile; and hau which is also used as a textile or decorative fiber. This dance with the materials of the land is further expanded through the performance of a dancer, wearing the materials on their body and dancing in a wahi pana (sacred place) as well as in a grove of hau trees. The labor hula is continued in a river, where the materials are cleaned and processed. It commences almost ritualistically, as if the movements were inherited within the performers, each of whom specializes in these crafts. The actions are meant to convey an offering, and akua (elemental deities) are shown watching these actions throughout the film. The film aims to convey that all of this ike (knowledge) is in fact inherited by all Kānaka, and that all it takes is a remembering. Through the transference of ike through the medium of film, a remembrance is offered to the viewer.
About the artists
Tiare Ribeaux is a Kānaka ‘Ōiwi filmmaker, artist, and creative producer based in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Her films disrupt conventional storytelling methods by employing magical realist explorations of spirituality, labor, and the environment to critique both social and ecological imbalances. Her work uses components of speculative fiction and fantasy to reimagine both our present realities and future trajectories of healing, queerness, lineage, and belonging. Ribeaux’s work traverses between the mundane and dreamworlds – creating stories around transformation and how our bodies are inextricably linked to land and water systems. She integrates immersion within community, personal/ancestral narratives, and Hawaiian cosmology into her films. Her work often combines with installation elements to create immersive and expanded media experiences.
She has shown work both nationally and internationally, and has won numerous grants and awards for her artistic leadership including the Creative Capital Award, the NDN Radical Imagination Grant, the Native Lab Fellowship and Indigenous Film Fund from Sundance, among others.
Credits: Tiare Ribeaux, Nanea Lum, Jody Stillwater