Reinterpretations of ‘ka mua, ka muri’ through the Poetics of Virtual Production

Abstract

This paper explores interpretations of the Māori whakatauki (proverb) ka mua ka muri drawing from two tangata tiriti cultural understandings while living in partnership with tangata whenua in Aotearoa. One interpretation draws upon ngatu (Tongan bark cloth) making as a filmmaking process, positioning the ngatu itself as film, where ancestral patterning, movement and oratory guide the narrative form. The second approaches virtual production reflexively, exploring the VPV (Virtual Production Volume) as a threshold between temporal worlds and treating the screen surface not as a backdrop for efficient production but as a boundary between the present and what the Welsh tradition calls Annwfyn, a realm of ancestral connection that exists alongside our own. Together, these experiments position the VPV as a space where tangata tiriti artists can engage with the provocation of ka mua, ka muri through their own specific cultural practices.