Lisa Reihana

Nomads of the Sea is Lisa Reihana's newest body of work and follows directly on from her work for the Venice Biennale, In Pursuit of Venus, infected. She continues the theme of 'Venus' in this new body of work. Nomads of the Sea weaves historical fact with fiction to explore the social tension between cultural leadership, spiritual custom and egotistical desire in the face of foreign political challenge in the 1800’s New Zealand. The film/stills tell a story of two women from quite different women's histories. These two protagonists, Charlotte Badger, a pakeha (Western) female mutineer, and Puhi, a proud woman of Ngā Puhi descent who becomes increasingly jealous of Charlotte’s rising status. The protagonists pay tribute to the strength of women and explore where women's power resided at this point in time. The position and discussion about women in society is now more relevant than ever. The 3D immersive film, of the same title, is screening on Cockatoo Island during the Biennale of Sydney 2020.