Brimming with beauty and loss, Fiona Pardington’s avian portraits resurrect the charisma and wildness of native birds preserved as taxidermy specimens in museum collections. On these pages, her manu are not merely replicated but reborn.

Ancestral memory is brought to life under the gaze of photographer Fiona Pardington (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Ngāti Kahungunu, Clan Cameron of Erracht) ONZM. One of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most powerful contemporary artists, Pardington’s practice captivates audiences with her profound ability to convey the intangible through exquisitely composed photographs.
This new book explores the practice of an artist at the height of her career and reveals the monumental avian portraits she has created for the New Zealand Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale.