Julianne Warren

recordings, 1948, 2018, 9 min

Live from Fairbanks, Alaska, Julianne presented a 1948 recording of a Maori man mimicking the song of the huia, a bird that was made extinct before field-recording technologies existed. And she presented a recent recording she made herself of this now old man imitating his memory of the huia.

The huia, an exquisite bird of New Zealand that was made extinct in the early 20th century due to habitat destruction, introduced predators and overhunting for its black and ivory tail feathers. The huia vanished before field-recording technologies existed, but a version of its song has survived by means of an eerie series of preservations: a sound fossil. In order to lure the birds to their snares, the Maori people learned to mimic the huia song. This mimicked song was passed down between generations, a practice that continued even after the huia was gone. In 1948 a pakeha (a European New Zealander) called RAL Bateley made a recording of a Maori man, Henare Hkamana, whistling his imitation of the huia’s call. 

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/16209

https://merwinconservancy.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/HuiaEchoesLoopCornellTrack_1.wav

 

Shown at L&F Theatrum Anatomicum (02–02–2018)