Ka Wheekee

In exhibition at the Shanghai Biennale 2025

"Ka Wheekee 2024 is a major sculptural installation that reexamines the civic monuments and historical legacies of colonial aggressions in the Waikato War of 1863-64. The artwork's title comes from an enduring expression by the Māori King Taawhiao, 'Kei a koe te paahuatanga I teenei raa, kei a au aapoopoo, Ka wheekee, ka wheekee, ka wheekee!', which translates to: Yours is the victory today, tomorrow it will be mine!

Ka Wheekee replicates the shape of the gun turret which sat atop New Zealand's first war vessel, the 'Pioneer'. Built in Australia in 1863, this gunboat was commissioned by Governor Grey, the chief representative of the British government, to move down the Waikato River, thereby breaching the aukati or boundary line of the Kīngitanga (Māori King movement) and initiating the Waikato Wars.

"With masterful craftsmanship, Graham cloaks the turret in a variation of rauponga, a traditional whakairo (carving) design. Reminiscent of the patterns seen in an 1844 drawing of a monument erected by the first Māori king, Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, for Graham this design infers the currents of the Waikato River which bind Tainui Māori together. In this structure, Graham transforms the architecture of colonial hostility into a powerful totem of Māori agency and relationality with the more-than-human world."

Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), Melbourne, Australia