Forthcoming November 2026
$65
288 pp, jacketed hardback
310 x 210mm
ISBN: 978-1-98-850357-8
Unutai e! Unutai e! Lament for fresh water harnesses the power of contemporary art and first-person accounts to shed light on an urgent environmental crisis: the deteriorating state of fresh water across Ngāi Tahu tribal lands in Te Waipounamu, the South Island of New Zealand.
Anne Noble’s stunning photographs document the widespread degradation of fresh water and are accompanied by her conversations with the people who are striving to restore wai māori, uphold rangatiratanga and protect the mahinga kai practices that are integral to Ngāi Tahu identity and survival.
But this is not just a Ngāi Tahu story. The degradation of fresh water is a crisis that affects everyone. Water is the essence of life, binding us together across cultures and generations. Unutai e! Unutai e! makes a compelling call to action, reminding us that with knowledge, persistence and collective effort, we have the power to restore ecosystems and honour the legacy of those who have come before us.
Anne Noble is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most respected contemporary photographers, creating bodies of work that mark sustained engagement with particular places, sites, histories and environmental issues. Professor Emerita of Fine Arts at Massey University, she was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to photography in 2003 and an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate in 2009.
Commissioned by Ngāi Tahu in 2023, Noble was tasked with providing photographic evidence to support the Statement of Claim seeking recognition of Ngāi Tahu rangatiratanga over fresh water within their takiwā, which was heard in the High Court of New Zealand in 2025. Working collaboratively with a Ngāi Tahu steering group and the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Noble developed the exhibition Unutai e! Unutai e!, drawing on this extensive archive of images to explore the long-standing commitment of Ngāi Tahu to the protection, restoration and intergenerational stewardship of wai māori.
