Ngākawau Kōrero reflect my personal connections to a contentious landscape, the Buller District. Currently at the thin end of the climate change wedge, this area has been home to the coal industry for over a century and, in more recent times, also to a strong environmentalist movement. My own family is split between generations of coal miners on one side and engaged environmentalists on the other. The tension between these is explored in collaboration with non-human entities at key nexus points in the region surrounding my family home in Hector, across the river from Ngākawau.

"Misunderstanding is not only an inescapable aspect of communication, it is, moreover, both valuable and indispensable. Why? Because misunderstanding reminds us, again and again, that our conversational partners are truly "other" than us; that each of us lives at the center of our own world; that we each arrive independently "on the scene" of communication with different histories, tradition, experiences and perspectives; that the self is not the world; that perfection is impossible; and that, although human language is infinitely generative, there are important aspects of human existence that are, simply, ineffable. In short, misunderstanding opens the doorway to the ethical relation by inspiring (or frustrating) us to listen more closely to others, to inquire more deeply into their differences, and to question our own already well-formed understandings of the world. Rather than turn away or shut the conversation down, misunderstanding can invite us to move with more humility, patience, and generosity than we might have otherwise. It asks us to give up easy certainties, to endure what may seem like endless repetition, and to cultivate a courage that could 'sustain blows of any kind and remain alert."

Lisbeth Lipari
Listening, Thinking, Being: Towards and Ethics of Attunement