New Zealand's Venice Biennale pavilion explores the secret life of birds

"Birds are "spiritual messengers" in Māori culture, explains Pardington: "They're talking to the ancestors, they bring knowledge, they bring insight, they're portentous." The exhibition features 17 towering portraits of taxidermied birds, including the extinct whēkau or laughing owl and the kākāpō, a ground-dwelling parrot, of which only 235 species remain."

"An artist of both Māori and Scottish descent, Pardington continues her photographic examination of objects that possess "mana" or power for Māori people. Inspired by a research trip to Antarctica, in 2024 Pardington produced Te taha o te rangi/The edge of the heavens, an exhibition of photographs of taxidermied birds from South Canterbury Museum Timaru's collection."

"A self-described "animist", Pardington is under no misconceptions about the devastating impact of introduced species on New Zealand's natural environment. When she is not in the studio, she is eradicating Bennett's wallabies, a kangaroo-like marsupial introduced for sport hunting in 1874, from her property."

Fiona Pardington, a photographer of Māori and Scottish heritage, presents Taharaki Skyside at Venice, marking New Zealand's return to the Biennale after a 2024 absence. The exhibition features 17 monumental portraits of taxidermied birds from New Zealand's critically endangered and extinct species, including the whēkau (laughing owl) and kākāpō parrot. Pardington's work examines objects possessing mana, or power, within Māori traditions. Birds hold spiritual significance as messengers connecting to ancestors and conveying knowledge and insight. An self-identified animist, Pardington actively addresses environmental conservation on her property by removing introduced species like Bennett's wallabies, demonstrating her commitment to protecting New Zealand's natural heritage.

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