Girl of New Zealand: Michelle Erai

Girl of New Zealand: Colonial Optics in Aotearoa by Michelle Erai analyses colonial depictions of Māori women to show how ascribing race, gender, sexuality, and class to imagined bodies can be a form of violence. This award winning study shows how images shape our imagination and how impossible it has become to maintain the delusion of the “innocent eye.” Join Michelle and Alice Te Punga Somerville for an hour of reclamation and exploration.

Catching the tide of a resurgence of women’s issues in the wake of #MeToo and other feminist projects, Michelle Erai’s Girl of New Zealand is timely. – Arini Loader, Victoria University of Wellington