This work, planned for Sculpture on the Gulf 2027, is an exploration of what taonga means and the many ways we hold memory, record time and make meaning. Each object/artefact/taonga is collected across a field of ideas and places. To change the world gently, or not at all, is the request of this artist and this project. What we hold on to matters, and what we let go of leaves a trace; both create ripples through time that we may never see return, but our descendants may remember.
Description: A beautiful piece of pounamu green corrugated plastic about 100mm by 60mm
Maker: Unknown
Date Made: Unknown
Signature/Marks: Unknown
Medium/Material: Plastic
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Provenance: found on Waitara beach
Condition: smoothed by the sea and sand
Description: Small packets of bells. Various sizes and shapes.
Maker: Unknown
Date Made: Unknown
Signature/Marks: NA
Medium/Material: folded metal, gold coloured
Whakapapa: silence, sound, and metal.
Provenance: Craft supplies shop, bought from Salvation Army Waitara, 2025, kept in studio until display.
Condition: Still in ziplock bags, as new, no marks or degraded metal.
Description: White net floater that is weathered with marks and scratches.
Maker: Unknown
Date Made: Unknown
Signature/Marks: Many marks, none of them from the maker, all of them from the sea.
Medium/Material: Plastic and polystyrene
Whakapapa: Many net floaters are made from the wood of the whau tree.
Provenance: Found on Waitara beach.
Condition: in usable condition but bereft of fisthing net.
Description: Small wooden egg painted in Aalto ultramarine acrylic paint.
Maker: Elliot Collins
Date Made: 2020
Signature/Marks: None
Medium/Material: acrylic on wood (YKB)
Whakapapa: I’ve been working on an artwork about extinct native birds. This one hasn’t come to fruition, but it will one day.
Provenance: Made in the studio here in Waitara. Rested in a bird's nest that fell from a tree during a storm.
Condition: Good condition, no marks, completely painted in blue paint.
Description: a bag of tapestry wool in various colours
Maker: see label
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: wool
Whakapapa: Korowai (tasselled cloaks) developed from pake (rain capes). Pake were covered with flat leaf strips that had a practical purpose – to channel rain off the cloak and keep the wearer dry. Innovative weavers transformed these practical strips into elegant tassels. Korowai take their name from korokoro (loose) and wai (water, or flowing). Distinctive hukahuka (tassels) cascade down these garments, rippling and swaying with the wearer’s every movement. *
Provenance: bought from the Salvation Army
Condition: as new, however, they will wear in the weather
Description: ten-cent piece
Maker: The New Zealand Mint
Date Made: See date
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Medium/Material: steel, plated with copper
Whakapapa: Designed by Reginald George James Berry in 1967, no, he was not Māori
Provenance: New Zealand Mint, then in circulation, pockets, cash registers, lost down the back of couches for years at a time.
Condition: a little tarnished
Description: a collection of picture framing strings taken off old paintings.
Maker: unknown
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: cotton, nylon, wire, rope, polyester, metal
Whakapapa:
Provenance: They were each removed from the back of old landscape paintings made by amateur New Zealand artists. Kept by the artist for a “future project”
Condition: various conditions, mostly worn and yellowed, rust stains on the material, knotted strings
Description:
Maker: God
Date Made: Unknownable
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Provenance: Outer space
Condition: good condition, all things considered.
Description: Brass rod that was bent by the artist
Maker: Elliot Collins
Date Made: 2026
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: Brass
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Condition: good condition
Description: small silver coloured metal carabiner
Maker: unknown
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: metal
Whakapapa:
Provenance: found in the everything drawer, home kitchen, Waitara, probably travelled from Mangere Bridge, Tāmaki Makaurau.
Condition: as new
Description: Small wooden wedge made out of cedar wood, 100mm in length, 20mm at its widest part that tapers to a 6mm point that has been cut. Used for tightening canvas stretchers.
Maker: unknown
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: cedar
Whakapapa: somewhere far away
Provenance: bought from Gordon Harris Art Supplies
Condition: as new
Description: A collection of fibulae that the artist has glued together after travelling through hundreds of years of time, only to be lumped together to make a thing.
Maker: unknown and Elliot Collins
Date Made: unknown and 2022
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: copper and glue
Whakapapa:
Provenance: TradeMe then lived within the studio until the Sculpture on the Gulf 2027
Condition: Fine, I guess
Description: a child's bracelet of an elastic band with white, blue, silver, and clear beads. A single flower bead in its center.
Maker: unknown
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: plastic and elastic
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Provenance: found in a field while walking the dog
Condition: still wearable and probably missed by a small child
Description: Used facemask, a white face shield and black strings
Maker: Miniso
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: name of maker
Medium/Material: non-woven fabric
Whakapapa:
Provenance: Found on Oneroa beach foreshore, collected by Helen Collins (my mum).
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Description: Cadbury chocolate wrapper, Marvellous Creations edition
Maker: Cadbury
Date Made:
Signature/Marks: Cadbury
Medium/Material: Plastic
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Condition: ripped but mostly intact
Description: a strong brass clip and hook used to connect naval flags together.
Maker: unknown
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: makers’ marks
Medium/Material: brass
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Condition: good condition for a used item at sea
Description: used and discarded cotton wool bud
Maker: Johnson and Johnson
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: plastic and cotton wool
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Condition: used, grey cotton, chewed plastic, not long for this world but will somehow live forever
Description: Roman-era copper brooch or fibula
Maker: unknown
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: copper
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Condition: missing its pin, corroded over time, and has green patina
Description: white fishing wire all tied together
Maker: unknown
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: fishing wire, plastic
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Provenance:
Condition: tangled in some seaweed
Description: a cotton hanky that is coloured with orange, brown, and white stripes that cross over to make a pattern.
Maker: unknown
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: cotton
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Condition: relatively good, slight fraying
Description: small white plastic stick
Maker: unknown
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: chew marks
Medium/Material: plastic
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Provenance: my mum collected it from Oneroa Beach, Waiheke, 2025
Condition: chewed plastic end, not pure white
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Description: Small piece of bright orange plastic. Potentially from a full circular form.
Maker: unknown
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: plastic
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Provenance: found on the beach in a pile of seaweed, made in an unknown factory
Condition: on its way to microplastic
Description: oyster shell found in Waitara beach, scientific name: Crassostrea gigas. White and blue with grey and black streaks.
Maker: the oyster
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: calcium carbonate
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Condition: lovely to hold
Description: Cuisenaire rods, which are mathematics learning aids for pupils that provide an interactive, hands-on way to explore mathematics and learn mathematical concepts, such as the four basic arithmetical operations, working with fractions, and finding divisors. In the early 1950s, Caleb Gattegno popularised this set of coloured number rods created by Georges Cuisenaire (1891–1975), a Belgian primary school teacher, who called the rods réglettes.
Maker: unknown
Date Made: 1952
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: coloured plastic
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Condition: the same as the day they were bought but with a hole in them
Description: Brooch worn by followers of TW Ratana, which is about 60mm in diameter
Maker: unknown
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: brass and enamel paint
Whakapapa: At first, Rātana encouraged people to continue attending their own Christian churches, but differences of beliefs led Rātana to establish his own church in 1925 – Te Haahi Rātana, the Rātana Church.
Provenance: kept inside a blue Rātana church prayer booklet
Condition: dulled over time
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Description: Collection of fossilsed sharks teeth
Maker: the shark
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: enamel
Whakapapa: Tangaroa
Provenance: unknown
Condition: near-perfect condition, shiny teeth, and dull poke-marked tooth base.
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Description: a large used band-aid, sticking plaster that is covered in sand, where the adhesive still holds
Maker: Band-Aid Brand
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: None
Medium/Material: Plastic and cloth (with sand)
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Condition: Used / poor
Description: a small band on two pieces of tape that must have held something together.
Maker: unknown
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: plastic
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Description: small buttons that are the shape of cockle shells and round plastic buttons in the colour of pounamu
Maker: unknown
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: plastic
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Provenance: bought for an abandoned project in 2021
Condition: as new
Description: Ti kouka braid made by an artist
Maker: Nicola Donald
Date Made: Unknown
Signature/Marks: none (other than the variation of consistency of the braid of each binding)
Medium/Material: Tī Kouka, Cordyline australis, Cabbage tree leaves
Whakapapa: Child of Tane Māhuta
Provenance: Tī kōuka is a familiar and distinctive feature of the New Zealand landscape. The fibrous leaves are not used so often by weavers today, but are still valued for their toughness and durability.
Snares made from tī leaves were durable and kept their shape well. Because tī fibre doesn’t shrink in water, the leaves were used for anchor ropes. Fishing nets made from harakeke were strengthened with runners of tī leaves. Kawe (back straps) for carrying heavy loads were often plaited from tī. Paraerae (sandals) made from dried tī leaves were a valued item for traversing rough ground and avoiding prickly plants underfoot.
Condition: good condition
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Maker: unknown
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: unrecognizable
Medium/Material: copper
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Provenance: Roman-era ring
Condition: poor
Description: 7 puriri buttons on original display card
Maker: Kawau Island Industries
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Provenance: made on Kawau Island
Condition: good, one button missing
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Description: Beef bone shaped to represent a stylised īnanga
Maker: Elliot Collins
Date Made: 2020
Signature/Marks: stains from being soaked in honey
Medium/Material: bone
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Provenance: made and exhibited in the National Contemporary Art Award as a finalist.
Condition: good, white bone that has been yellowed by honey
Description: a collection of feathers gathered from under a rimu tree at Te Pou o Rongo, Rānana, Whanganui
Maker: I feel like this was a bittern / moana kōtuku up a tree in Whanganui
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: feathers
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Description: small silver and back enamel brooch of a male with his head in his hands. His head is dissolving behind him.
Maker: Henrietta Harris
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: enamel brooch on nickel
Whakapapa:
Provenance: This was given to me by the artist; it must have been after our years together at art school. Her paintings are amazing, and this brooch was taken from a little drawing she had done.
Condition: as new
Description: collection of pounamu offcuts smoothed by a tumbler to a high polish.
Maker: Elliot Collins
Date Made: Unknown/2026
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: poumanu
Whakapapa: Poutini
Provenance: Collected after a carver discarded them post preparing larger work collected from the Arahuru, Hokitika
Condition: high polish with a single hole, a range of different colours with differing hues and flecks of colour, mainly white.
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Description: copper wire and metal eyelet screw used to hang paintings
Maker: unknown
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: None
Medium/Material: Metal
Whakapapa: Unknown
Provenance: Unknown
Condition: meh
Description: Plastic bag of oyster shells bought for $4 from the Salvation Army Te Hāwera. Crassostrea gigas
Maker: Unknown
Date Made: Unknown
Signature/Marks: years of growth marks
Medium/Material: at least 95% calcium carbonate
Whakapapa: Kā Roimata and Tāwhirimātea
Provenance: ocean, then Salvation Army Te Hāwera, then my studio
Condition: sad and unresponsive
Description: oval-shaped metal ring with a pin-like flange for opening iPhone SIM card holders.
Maker: Apple
Date Made: 2017
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Medium/Material: metal
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Provenance: Designed in California, made in China
Condition: excellent
Description: Muka strands from Parihaka that were made with Maata Wharehoka at her whare for a kaupapa at Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
Maker: Elliot Collins
Date Made: 2024
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: muka/harakeke (see native New Zealand Flax)
Whakapapa: Hine-te-iwaiwa and Tāne Mahuta
Provenance: harvested at Parihaka, Taranaki, pinned to my studio wall ever since.
Condition: as expected, but full of memory
Description: black hair tie, elastic
Maker: unknown
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: none
Medium/Material: plastic
Whakapapa: none
Provenance: I stole this when I had long hair. She always asked where her hair ties would go; it’s just that I was bad at buying them and always lost mine.
Condition: as new
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Description: large limpet, grey, blue, and black in colour, with a collection of small barnacles on its shell.
Maker: Limpets make their iconic cone-shaped shells using a special body part called the mantle. The mantle is a fleshy layer of tissue that covers the limpet's body. It acts like a 3D printer by taking calcium and carbonate from the water and food, and mixing them together to create a mineral called calcium carbonate
Date Made: unknown
Signature/Marks: just the growth marks
Medium/Material: calcium carbonate
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Provenance: While these don’t instantly scream taonga, since the increase in mass collection of molluscs from rockpools around Aotearoa, these unassuming creatures have come to national attention for their special place in the ecosystem and function of a healthy environment.
Condition: lovely
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Description: Champagne coloured scrunchy
Maker: Unknown
Date Made: Unknown
Signature/Marks: None
Medium/Material: elastic and glossy fabric
Whakapapa: Unknown
Provenance: found at a sports field during a high school league game
Condition: Still in usable condition
Description: small Roman-era copper ring, tarnished and smoothed over time
Maker: Unknown
Date Made: Unknown
Signature/Marks: None
Medium/Material: Copper
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Provenance: Trademe
Condition: good condition for its age
Description: Small piece of white shell with holes in it
Maker: crustation
Date Made: Unknown
Signature/Marks: None other than all the holes
Medium/Material: shell/calcium
Whakapapa: Tangaroa
Provenance: found on Moureeses beach, Whananaki, Northland
Condition: as expected
Description: Black brooch made with enamel and gold-coloured nickel. 60mm diameter, two butterfly clasps on reverse.
Maker: Elliot Collins
Date Made: 2020
Signature/Marks: None
Medium/Material: enamel paint and metal
Whakapapa: This comes from Roland Bathes quote about the idea of a journey.
Provenance: 300 Made in Auckland and held in many private collections of people's coats.
Condition: shiny and round, will survive a wash cycle.
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