Watch: Four artists talk about their work
Photographers and artists Caroline McQuarrie, Johanna Mechan, Cora-Allen Lafaiki-Twiss, and Natalie Robertson discuss their works showing in Slow Burn | Ahu Tāmau and what the works mean to them.
Watch: Johanna Mechen talks about her work ‘Last Skye Boat Song’
“Last Skye Boat Song is a reference to the last time I sang a lullaby to my youngest... transitioning from childhood to teenagehood. ...And that ended up having a layered meaning at the end of the film. We’re quite directly referencing elements of my son’s gender transition and dropping of a disguise and becoming one’s true self.”
– Johanna Mechen
Last Skye Boat Song is a deeply personal meditation on physical and emotional transformation. Starting with the last singing of a lullaby, it traces two parallel journeys – a child’s into their transgender identity, and a mother’s into midlife.
Johanna Mechen made the film in close collaboration with her family. It is set in and around her home in Waiwhetū, Lower Hutt, over a four-year period – overlapping in time with the COVID-19 pandemic and growing anxieties about climate change.
This series is part of the exhibiton Slow Burn | Ahu Tāmau at Te Papa, 2026
You might also like
Opening 28 Feb – Slow Burn: Women and Photography
Slow Burn showcases the diversity of photography by women and non-binary artists in Aotearoa New Zealand from the 1960s to today.
Opening soon
Sat 28 Feb 2026
Exhibition Ngā whakaaturanga
Toi Art
Fresh takes and new favourites. You’ll find them in Toi Art – the home of the National Art Collection.
Discover new artists, get creative in the family-friendly Art Studio, or spend time with a favourite artwork.
On now
Long-term exhibition
Exhibition Ngā whakaaturanga