In Māori, kiko refers to the body, flesh or foundation, and moana to the sea. Kiko Moana recalls the vast, moving body of the ocean from which all life emerged. The artists created this work to travel around the globe, like the powerful water spirits found in rivers, lakes and the sea known as taniwha.

The artist collective Mata Aho constructed this sweeping textile from layers of blue tarpaulin. The group comprises four artists: Erena Baker, Sarah Hudson, Bridget Reweti and Terri Te Tau. Together they cut, folded and sewed more than 60 plastic tarpaulins into this intricate sculpture.

Kiko Moana unites many aspects of Māori culture, both contemporary and long-established. Blue tarpaulins are common across communities, and as a part of their research for this work Mata Aho photographed them ‘in the wild’. The geometric design references meetinghouse panels that describe the links between one generation and another — whakapapa — as well as larger cosmologies connecting earth and water, the stars and seasons.