Chris Charteris has long been fascinated by Māori and Pacific Island taonga (treasures). Always under the impression he was part Māori, it was not until he was in his late twenties that he discovered he was of Kiribati and Fijian descent. In 2012, travel to Kiribati enabled Charteris to connect with his extended family and culture for the first time. These important relationships and experiences are reflected in Tungaru: The Kiribati Project, which was originally presented at the Auckland War Memorial Museum in 2014.

For APT9, the project features Te ma (fish trap) 2014, Charteris’s sculptural response to the unique heart-shaped fish traps that his family viewed lining the shore of Tarawa atoll on their trip to Kiribati. This work, together with a group of 21 swords commissioned for the exhibition, displays an attention to detail derived from the artist’s early training in Māori carving and body adornment. Inspired by works viewed in museum collections, including the Queensland Museum, the swords sit alongside a contemporary response to the iconic Kiribati armour, created from coconut fibres in collaboration with community members from Kiribati and Aotearoa New Zealand. A circular-shaped wall sculpture signals the importance of the coconut tree to all aspects of life on Kiribati, as well as the significance of the connections between people.