Sam Gorham

_Raking through the ashes_ examines the contested history and significance of tobacco production in Aotearoa, New Zealand. This work signals tobaccos dying future in Aotearoa as the government moves towards an ambitious goal of ‘Smokefree 2025’, whilst presenting a contemporary interpretation on the future of nicotine and tobacco alternatives in society. Resurfaced artefacts from once closed corporate archives and research facilities are collated with Gorham’s contemporary site-specific responsive images, creating collisions of past and present materials. These materials open records of mass production, consumption, economic position, as well as communities in Aotearoa which were ingrained in past tobacco manufacture. As the climate surrounding societies use of tobacco shifts and swirls dramatically, New Zealand has entered a stage of huge legistlative control and social stigma of its use.