Robyn Kahukiwa: Tangata Whenua

Robyn Kahukiwa is of Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngāti Hau, Ngāti Konohi, Te Whānau-a-Ruataupare, and Te Whānau-a-Te Aotawarirangi descent.

She is one of Aotearoa’s foremost artists, acclaimed internationally and known for her strong political commentary. She works in painting, drawing, printmaking, and sculpture, and is an award-winning author and illustrator.

Since the early 1970s, Kahukiwa has been creating work that celebrates Māori people, culture, and rights. Her bold, vivid pictures treat a broad range of subjects, including colonisation and dispossession, motherhood and wellbeing, whakapapa and tikanga Māori. They are valued for their power to speak to the experiences of Māori and other Indigenous people from around the world.
  
Tangata Whenua is Kahukiwa’s first solo exhibition in Te Waipounamu in two decades. It provides audiences with an opportunity to engage with major new works exploring themes of enduring significance to the artist: mana motuhake, mana wāhine, and mana whenua. The works stand against ongoing injustice and inequity, and emphasise the strength and vitality of iwi Māori. As Kahukiwa notes:

Māori are living proof of the continuum of whakapapa, the power of our achievements, and the survival of an intact, dynamic culture.

We are excited to have a range of Robyn’s back catalogue of books on loan from Christchurch City Libraries for you to look through while visiting the exhibition.