Toi Māori - Esther


I’m fortunate to have family in various parts of the world but none of them are further away than my New Zealand family. I was well into adulthood before I realised that not everyone was familiar with NZ & Māori culture. I’d always taken it for granted.
Like many other Scots, Mum’s oldest brother & family emigrated there for the economic opportunity NZ offered as well as a chance to start a new life in a stunningly beautiful environment. Although they lost their accents, my Aunt & Uncle never lost the sense of their roots. In maintaining their heritage they took an interest in the original cultures of their new home. I benefited from this interest & developed my own. Thanks to them, I grew up with hei-tikis, carved ornaments, books of Māori words & how to pronounce them in addition to a range of related souvenir-type items. I had books of Māori folk stories (they are still in their original wrappers, they were so treasured), knew my pāua shell from my pounamu & I knew that Mount Egmont was really Mount Taranaki.

Te Ha o Hineahuone (Robyn Kahukiwa)


As a child, it was part of the fabric of my world, despite NZ being as far from Scotland as it’s possible to be whilst remaining on planet Earth. Mine was of course, a very superficial knowledge & even more superficial understanding of Māori culture, but it left me, a blueish-white girl in a faraway land respectful, empathetic & curious.
Today planet Earth & the experiences of the societies on it are different than they were in the 1970s. Attitudes have thankfully changed & hopefully will continue to evolve; we have become more aware of the difficulties & injustices indigenous people across the globe have faced & are still facing. Appropriation & misrepresentation of Māori culture is rife, through misuse & misinterpretation of the haka, as well as traditional decoration, clothing & tattoos. Undoubtedly we’ve been unable to resist the use of Māori patterns & symbols because of their beauty, their organic & satisfying quality. Sadly however, we often don’t try to resist & cultural appropriation is based on wilful ignorance & disrespect.


Te Paea Hinerangi

Predictably my first encounter with Māori related fine art was by a European. We  were sent an annual NZ calendar (my lovely cousin still sends me one) & one particular year each month had a spectacular Māori portrait by Bohemian (now Czech Republic) artist Gottfriend Lindauer (1839-1926). The portraits were so full of life & character, so believably authentic & accurate, although it emerges not all the details were. Commissioned by both Māori & European patrons, responses vary – undeniably technically brilliant though rather Eurocentric in their purpose, they are today honoured by Māori people as a connection & “living embodiments” of their ancestors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EICa_kUA_nM

   Haora Tipa Koinaki

 Huria Matenga Ngarongoa

Ratene Hihitawa

But what of real Māori artists?  I took myself on a short & not nearly in-depth enough journey to discover works I was unfamiliar with. An adventure in art. Here are the fascinating results although I’m merely scratching the surface.

Even the most cursory search for Māori art will direct you to the work of Ralph Hotere (1931-2013) & his incredible Black Phoenix installation, made from the ruins of a burnt-out fishing boat. His concept of the phoenix in this case can be taken as a metaphor for the rising of Māori culture, inscribed as it is with the beautiful proverb, “Ka Hinga atu he tētākura ara mai he tētēkura.” (When one frond dies, another takes its place).



Representing the current of the Waikato River is Fred Graham’s (1928-) Te Awa. Much of his work is inspired by Māori stories & issues such as the loss of Māori lands. “…my art is more than just me – I carry a lot of people with me.” 

Robyn Kahukiwa’s (1938-) depiction of Māori subjects is a far cry from Lindauer’s more conventional portraiture as in Hine Tītama. “The reality of Māori life today has got to be put by me on canvas, because otherwise I have to think about it myself…” Her work also explores Māori identity & colonialism.



As ever, I’m a sucker for a touch of controversy & surrealism. Michael Parekowhai’s (1968-) Sculptural Pianos. In reference to his giant cartoon rabbit installation: “One of the good things about New Zealand artists is they have the ability to laugh a little at themselves…”



Emily Karaka (1952-) is a highly expressionist painter, dealing often with feminism & Māori rights. Her work's energy & high colour matched with a profound narrative as in Te Uri O Te Ao creates a powerful experience for the viewer. “People see me as a political painter – well politics is life.”



I’m very drawn to the colour & collage-style painting of Shane Cotton (1964-), in particular his Head#!?$. One of his “target” paintings, it contains menace in its compositional blend of geometry, commonplace & Māori subjects. “Biculturalism, how our histories have been woven over time, things that have come out of that connection – culture, politics, societal living – have been the driving factors in my work.”



Sculptor & painter, Kura te Waru Rewiri (1950-) returns to themes of ancestral figures, feminism & Māori displacement. I am very struck by her depiction of the crucifix Te Rīpeka, a combined image of recognisable Māori carving style & colonialist Christian iconography.


Whenua/Wahine/Whenua

Penny Haka Gallery owner, set designer & artist Logan Okiwi Shipgood creates larger than life sculptures from chain-sawed logs. He uses Māori stories, motifs & decorative styles to striking effect. In watching him work on a 2018 BBC production, one could see how the original wood he used seemed to merely mask the figure inside it. 



Saffronn te Ratana (1975-) Whakarongo ki te karanga
On the purpose of art: “You just have to keep finding a way for it to be functional & useful to the iwi.”


Arnold Manaaki Wilson (1928-2012) encouraged young Māori artists to utilise the media & approaches of European sculpture to express themselves & their Māori inheritance. Te tu a te wahine does this beautifully. A painterly, modernist style in a limited palette merges with clear Māori motifs & flowing design to almost dream-like effect.



 I saved my personal favourite for last...

With eternal thanks to Uncle John & Auntie Cathie

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