What is That Salty Voice?

A publication developed in response to Ana Iti’s 2023 solo exhibition, I am a salt lake, at The Physics Room. The 2023 project focused on Kapara Te Hau, the salt lakes near Te Waiharakeke (Blenheim) in Te Waipounamu, a first-person narrative meditation on a body of water, minerals, and the relationship between one’s internal voice and the physical landscape.

What is that salty voice? features written contributions from Colleen Maria Lenihan, essa may ranapiri and Abby Cunnane. Lenihan writes as the artist’s whanaunga and in connection with their shared Te Rarawa tupuna, Kupe; ranapiri writes about salt, saltiness, colonisation and the body; Cunnane writes about the physicality of grief and the salt lakes’ algae in their red state. A series of still images by Iti, the beginning of a second chapter of work at Kapara Te Hau, completes this soft-colour publication, beautifully designed by Eva Charlton with working drawings by Iti throughout.