The Choreum
Russell Royer, MArch (Year: 5)
Where indigenous voice has been absent, the architect must perform an altruistic role, becoming part of a larger support system, letting go of dated art historical or architectural references, and investing in the desires of source communities. Opposed to dreary public consultations, The Choreum ensures that the source communities’ values take pride of place, THEIR knowledge and connection to THEIR artefacts transcending the tangible/material world that our profession limits us to.
This is not a 12-month student project but an ongoing practice. I would like to invite you ALL to join this cause, work with your communities or extend your reach further, proposing novel protocols that bring these important cultural objects back into circulation.
We supersede current museological choreographies around cultural objects, confronting destructive architectures of handling, observing and labelling.
Accumulating the necessary expertise, we provide spaces for communities to explore protocols, ensuring that the museum is a minute pause in a cultural object's life.
The Choreum is NOT following the trend of decolonising institutions, nor current repatriation processes. Instead, we look to architecture and performance as tools for the creation of new cultural spaces and systems, superseding current frameworks from the scale of the individual to the networked collective.
The Choreum looks to architecture and performance as tools to create new cultural spaces and systems, superseding current frameworks from the scale of the individual to the networked collective
In three mills studio, a one-to-one mock-up of the British Museum’s Sainsbury’s Gallery has been constructed
The documentation of this will be dispersed among museums in possession of N’demi across the world, resulting in the smashing of N’demi masks according to these newly established protocols
Overview of the N'demi Choreum workshop
The Choreum frame provides a custom built space that facilitates rehearsals, community meetings, the displaying of models and documents
Overview of the Boutou Choreum workshop
The Matrix instruction shows thorder of placement and number of Maori, conservators and helpers needed this is accompanied by a visual instruction booklet of handling procedures
A render from the visual instruction document showing the placement of the Rapara and its supports
A render from the visual instruction document showing the people and apparatus needed for the placement of the Poutahu
