Shannon Te Ao: my life as a tunnel, Hood Museum of Art, May 9, 2021—April 17, 2022

Shannon Te Ao’s (Ngāti Tūwharetoa / New Zealander, born Australia, 1978) my life as a tunnel (2018) is inspired by a scene from Charles Burnett’s film Killer of Sheep (1978) in which the protagonist, Stan, and his wife—whose marriage has experienced much strain—slowly dance to Clyde Otis’s song "This Bitter Earth," originally recorded by Dinah Washington in 1959, capturing a pivotal moment of physical and psychological exchange. This two-channel video is installed on two separate, back-to-back screens. Two figures move intimately together to an a cappella version of "This Bitter Earth," sung in te reo Māori (Māori language). Their engagements seem affectionate, but there are subtle, yet palpable, moments of disquiet. This layered and poignant work weaves together past and present and asks: What can be found once something is lost? The exhibition includes an Abenaki translation of “This Bitter Earth”, highlighting the Indigenous language and peoples of New Hampshire’s Upper Valley.